Reckless Love
by The Avenger's Scientist
Summary: Izebel Anderson (M.D. Ph.D) was always a special girl. Graduating with 3 degree by the age of 24 was no easy task. Her background in medicine and PhD in ethnobotany and a sister stationed on the Wakandan border as a missionary made it so easy for Tony Stark to just slide her file to to the right place. Question is, is she up for the challenge? (Eventual BuckyxOC)
1. Chapter 1

The Anderson family in rural southwest Florida were your everyday common church family. The father, Jack Anderson, was a well-known preacher in the area for the local Baptist church in the center of town. Jack grew up the way many southern church families do, with a legacy. The Anderson family generations ago founded the quaint little church in the center of town after the Civil War ended. Each generation grew up there and stayed at that one little church, preaching to every generation.

Jack grew up there, completed his pastoral training, and then went on to find his wife in Italy when touring the Vatican City with his missionary group. Melina Bianchi was only 18 when she met Jack, but it was love at first sight. She immediately moved to the United States at the despair of her parents, and became a perfect pastor's wife. They had two beautiful daughters, Adrianna and Izebel Anderson, who brought nothing but joy to their life. It was the first generation of Andersons without a single boy in the mix. But if you asked Melina, she called it a blessing none the less.

Izebel enjoyed growing up in Florida, but sometimes, it was quite evident to everyone in that town that she didn't belong there. Izebel was bright from a young age, and while she socialized very well, it was clear she struggled with connecting with kids her age. Instead of going to children's church like every other 7 year old, the young girl sat in the sun, reading books far beyond a seven year old's reading capability.

Izebel was also homeschooled. But after turning 12 years old and completing high school curriculums with her 18 year old sister Adriana, her mother decided that maybe, they should take a chance with this bright little girl they had.

"Jack, I think Izebel might be ready to go to college" Melina casually dunked the casserole dish within the soap bubbles again while her husband's eyes began to furrow.

He kept an even pace with the dish he was drying before putting it down in the drying rack. "Izebel is 12 years old. Aren't we supposed to be talking about Adriana's college experience?"

"Well yes, but you understand that Izebel was surpassing Adriana in her classes no?"

"Yes but-"

"She is too smart to be stuck in the quaint little town."

A dish broke. Jack's brows seemed to connect with the amount of confusion in his face while looking at the shards of the blue plate scattered along the tile floor. Melina remembered the last time she saw that look of confusion. When she chose to leave her family and be in this small quaint town she was trying to push her daughter out of.

Jack didn't know how to respond. Many times he didn't when it came to his wife. Melina was too smart of him, too passionate. The Italian woman loved to have endless conversations with him about life, about their children, about the world. She was curious, opinionated, and passionate. Much like their youngest daughter was already at the young age of twelve.

His lungs filled with air quickly, and a small prayer was sent up to the Lord, _If this is what you want we will try._ John wasn't a man to stand in the way of God's plans. And God made his little girl bright.

Jack was a proud man. Proud of his little family. Proud of the town he lived in. But looking around his house, everything suddenly became dull and bland. The oak farm table was losing its shine, while the stairs creaked as the young girls ran up the stairs for bedtime. The sun even looked opaque shining through the clear windows.

"Fine. But don't set her up to fail. She is just a kid."

Summer 2006

"Mother, you cannot honestly think I will even consider going to a school with my sister do you? Its glorified babysitting" The olive toned teenager's eyes were beginning to fill with tears and she stared at her mother. The two were very similar, same wavy brown hair, same olive toned skin, same stature and height. However, the teenager lacked a lot of drive and push that her mother had. No, that drive and push was all within her younger sister. The exact sister that would be following her to the same Florida state college campus the teenager was enrolled in.

"Adriana, Izebel will need you. This is your time to be the best sister you can. And I am sure Izebel will be just the roommate you are looking for." The Italian accent was more pronounced with the tone of authority the mother spoke with. The teenager could do nothing both roll her eyes.

"Mother she already is my roommate. I don't want her to renew that lease again. I'm an adult. She is a kid. This WONT work."

" It's not a request. And that is final."

3 months later

Izebel slowly entered her dorm room, knowing her sister would be angry that she was coming in so late. Part of the promise Adriana made with her parents 3 months ago was that she would have dinner with her sister every day during the first semester of college and she would be able to get one of the newest blackberry phone models that came out during the second semester. Izebel was never late, a prompt 6:30 dinner time was common in the Anderson household. However, today was a little different. And with the blank transfer papers and scholarship packet clutched to her chest, Izebel was sure that her sister face wouldn't be in a permanent scowl for the evening.

"How dare you be late? Izebel this is like the _only_ we have to do together. And you know mom expects a photo from our dinner. Why are you even late?"

"Listen I-" but before she could explain her sister got a bit teary eyed and gave her a hug.

"Honestly I thought someone shoved you in a trash can or something. I'm sorry for yelling" Izebel patter her sister's back a couple of times before the teenager let go of her. Adriana wiped the black smudge beneath her eyes and fanned her face for a second while Izebel collected herself again. This time, Izebel stretched the packet out to her sister.

"I'm going to transfer. To a different college." Adriana's eyes got wide. She looked around the room as if something about the typical college dorm room with bunk beds was going to give her a clue as to why her sister was leaving.

"Is someone making fun of you here Izebel? Because if they are you know what the dean said on the first day."

"It's nothing like that Adriana. We both know I don't really belong here. The University of Florida was your school. Not mine. And you remember my biology professor no? The one who went to Cornell? Well, he found a way for me to transfer there next year. Full scholarship. Take a look at the packet." With that direction, Adriana sat at her desk and looked it over. The professor was thorough that's for sure. And the papers were already drawn up. The only thing missing was a clear signature from the legal guardian or parent Izebel Anderson. Adriana actually laughed when looking at that.

"Do you really think mom and dad are going to let you go up to New York all by yourself at the age of 13?" Izebel squirmed at the thought of asking her parents that. The University of Florida was a tough sell on the parents during the summer.

"We will figure it out. Don't you worry." And for the first time, the sisters actually became a little more compromising to the predicament of them going to college at the same time.

3 years later

Adriana's face glitched a little bit while laughing at the story her sister just told her. Facetime was the sisters' new form of communication after both received MacBook laptops. It was just months away from graduation but Adriana couldn't help but laugh at her sister's current predicament.

"So wait… you're telling me that this kid _actually_ is going to teach you how to drive in exchange for free tutoring sessions? Oh my gosh that is PRECIOUS!" Izebel started to laugh with her too.

"Hey, I'm the only kid in my major without a license. I'm 16! I should be getting it but I don't have the hours. At least this kid is 21 and has a car!"

"I know I know. But its still hysterical that you try and have a normal high school experience while bribing your students with free tutoring sessions to get those experiences."

"Don't remind me." Izebel grumbled.

The sisters laugher started to slow. And Adriana looked pretty serious for a second. Izebel picked up on that easily and pointed her spoon of ice cream at the camera, as if to say "spill it".

"Okay, so you know how I talked to that kid in the club for missionaries on campus?" Adriana suddenly looked nervous, which peaked Izebel's interest. Her sister was so confident all the time. How could a church scenario make her nervous? They practically lived their whole lives in one.

"He told me about this international relations position opening this year for graduating students. They want me to apply for the position."

"Adriana that's amazing news! A job in your major how exiting!"

"Izebel wait-"

"You could totally do this. I'm so happy for you."

"It's in Wakanda."

Both sisters grew quite serious. They both knew what that meant. It wasn't a IR position as in business. It was IR in the sense of poverty and social outcry. Wakanda was known for being one of the poorest countries in the world, and their boarders were known as huge human trafficking locations. The country itself still technically refused outsider help, and made it known several times at UN events.

"Adriana…" Izebel began, but Adriana just held up her spoon in reply. It was clear from the gesture that Adriana wasn't going to elaborate more, and Izebel shouldn't either.

"Who knows if I would even get it…"

Summer 2018

Adriana certainly got that position, seeing as though Izebel was on a rickety plane right now to go and see her. It was certainly hard on her family, but when she came back the summer of 2012 with a man known as Ayo, it was clear to the Anderson parents that Adriana certainly made the right decision for her. The International Relations position ended up being the start of a huge missionary program, which her family immediately loved. What more could a pastor want for his daughter?

Izebel had fallen away from that lifestyle the further she went into her studies. Izebel liked the idea of God. If you asked her where she stood in her faith, she would tell you she was a Christian. But the idea of devoting only her attention to the bible when her heart yearned to read science articles put a strain on the relationship between herself and her father. To compromise, Izebel had promised to spend the summer in Wakanda with her sister's missionary organization to make up for all the Sundays she had missed while completing her doctorate degrees. The promise of a research position waiting for her in New York City made it easier for her to get on this plane now and spend a couple of weeks with her sister. She would finally see where her sister had been living all these years. Besides, it wasn't like she had any plans to stay here longer than necessary.

The first month of being with her sister at the missionary program in Nigeria was very uneventful. Well, at least compared to the hustle and bustle she just left from New York City and Boston. Izebel promised her parents after graduating with such "unusual" degrees at such a young age, she would spend time with her sister Adriana before committing to a scientific practice.

Ayo and Adriana now had three beautiful children together, and were in charge of a small missionary village just on the outskirts of the Wakandan border. There were many refugees living in their village, and Izebel had the boring opportunity to play doctor for all the little kid's bumps and bruises.

The village itself was very quiet. Nothing like what Izebel had pictured. You see, Izebel had already had an idea of what Wakanda and the Nigeria border should look like because of an connection she had with her thesis. The woman, named Nakita, had emailed the young scientist almost daily in regards to her research being done on indigenous tribal medicinal practices in the outskirts of Nigeria. At first it was bothersome, because it was clear based on the email content this woman had no clue what ethnobotany was and what scientific research entitled. But after several email exchanges, Nakita made it clear that she was hoping the young scientist might be of help to a local scientist from her home country, Wakanda. The Wakandan scientist, named Shuri, was looking for someone who might be able to help her aid in research on psychiatric medicine and memory loss and restoration medicine from native species of plants. Izebel was intrigued to say the least, and her sister was bothering her to visit.

It was settled 3 months before Izebel was to arrive at her sister's missionary village on the Nigeria-Wakanda border, that Shuri or Nakita would visit within the first month of her arrival to introduce her to the area she would be able to work in.

So in May 2018, Izebel hugged her parents after graduation and ran to JFK airport with nothing but a carryon suitcase and backpack stuffed with textbooks and modest clothing.

Originally she assumed it would be a dirt village, but instead it was on the Sahara with plenty of farming and grass covering the small town. It was definitely hot, but nothing the Floridian couldn't handle. Wakanda's border was beautiful. The sunrises were something she could never get over. And the air was almost cleaner than anything she had ever experienced.

Each day was the same, get up, help Adriana's kids get ready for school, and then sit in the nurses station. Sometimes they would get refugees who she could help patch up a scrape or set in some stiches, but nothing exciting ever really came by.

Idle hands are the devils work they say. But she knew Shuri and Nakita would hold true to her promise. Well, at least she believed they did. It had been a month exactly and they were pushing their timeline. Izebel was itching to get back into the field and help heal people.

"You know your friends won't show up any quicker with that glare to the sunrise. But some wrinkles might show up." A familiar voice sounded behind her. Adriana was no longer the lanky twenty year old roommate her sister remembered. Missionary work seemed to have aged the 30 year old. But maybe that was the small children she had come to have. However, the lifestyle her sister picked almost seemed to suit her. Her skin was almost tanner than their mother's had been, and a glow from all the work she has put into her village simply radiated off of her when you got the woman talking about it. But most of all, the woman's brown eyes almost seemed to be filled with a wisdom that the young woman lacked in her college years.

Izebel blew a string of curls out of her face while turning to look at her sister. "It's not my fault they got me excited about this project. You know how I am about projects Adriana". The older sister chuckled before wrapping an arm around her sister, matching the girls previous observational look at the sunrise.

"Me paying you to do my math project was how we found out you were brilliant in the first place Iz. Mom won't let me forget that one."

The golden hues of the sun rays began to dampen in saturation as the sun pulled higher into the sky. The grass lost its halo as the blue overtook the sky. There wasn't a single cloud in sight. However, there was something in the distance. Three figures. The older sister's face cracked into a smile. She knew they would be coming today. The woman Nakita had visited the missionary village on several occasions, sometimes bringing in women and children to be rescued from trafficking situations.

By this point Izebel had noticed the visitors on the horizon and turned to look at her sister. The older woman was already grinning at her and nodding her head. With a slight squeeze on Izebel's arm, Adriana walked back towards the village. Izebel turned back to the visitors, who now could be identified as two women and a man. The grin overtaking her face was infectious as the women pulled close enough to be in eye sight. The woman on the left was youthful, with space buns like Princess Leah and a beautiful white dress. The woman on the right matched the description her sister gave her of Nakita, short natural hair, bright eyes, and a strong stance. But the man in the middle was not someone she was expecting. He almost looked familiar adorned in his loose black pants and long jacked with silver embellishment with hands folded neatly in front of him and a polite smile on his face.

"You must be Izebel. I am delighted to meet you. My sister has said nothing but good things about you. And I have read your work-"

"I am not your sister Shuri" the fierce woman scoffed, causing the man to crack an actual smile.

"You could be if you were willing Nakita."

"As I was saying," Shuri interrupted the two before steering back the conversation to Izebel. "My name is Shuri. It's a pleasure to meet you. I have read your thesis and I have to say it's wonderful. I look forward to working with you. This is Nakita, the woman who has been emailing you and harassing your sister with more strays. And my brother T'Challa."

"Thank you Shuri." Izebel blushed. The thesis had only been out for 2 year and barely had more than 3 checkouts in her school's database. It was rare for someone to be interested in the ethnobotanical importance of gingko leaves in memory restoration. "And a pleasure to meet you all. Come this way. I am sure my sister ran off to make some breakfast. We did not realize you would be coming this early."

With that the three Wakandans found themselves in the modest house of the mixed missionary family. Adriana tutted around the kitchen gathering the fruit and yogurts while Ayo almost seemed star struck talking to T'Challa. It was so early that the small patter of feet had not even begun in the household.

Ayo finally found his tongue after a while and stated, "Izebel and Adriana, you could have informed me that the scientist you would be working with was the Princess of Wakanda and her brother the now King of Wakanda would be joining us for breakfast."

A glass shattering broke the silence that followed the heavy statement from the Nigerian man. T'Challa smiled weakly before clearing his throat.

"Thank you for the introduction. We were going to get to that actually. I would not be here if it was not important." T'Challa's accent almost seemed to thicken at the sudden entrance to his true motives of being here. The dining room table that seated all except Adriana, who was hurriedly trying to clean up the water pitcher that was shattered along the wooden floor, seemed too small for the 5 current occupants.

Nakita and Shuri wouldn't speak. Izebel's face continued to contort into confusion. It was clear that although those women seemed to be her primary form of communication, it was once again a mirage for what Izebel was actually brought here to do.

"Your Highness-"

"T'Challa"

"Yes, T'Challa. I'm sorry but Nakita and Shuri made it very clear I am here for ethnobotanical and medical purposes. I'm not sure why I would be much help to you." Adriana seemed to fuss even more, although the glass and water had been cleaned up. The yogurt and fruit seemed to suddenly appear on the table, thickening the ever present awkwardness that overcame the young adults.

Instead of answering the implied question from Izebel, Shuri flashed a dazzling smile at Adriana and thanked her for the breakfast before digging in. Nakita shortly followed suit and T'Challa did not seem bothered with the sudden shift of focus from hidden agendas to fruit differences between the Americas and Africa.

To Izebel's annoyance, the soft pitter patters interrupted the forced fruit talk, further pushing back her ability to find out what the heck was going on. The loud spat of fruit onto her glass plate was the only indication that Izebel certainly hadn't forgotten the conversation and that she expected an answer after breakfast.

The soft babble of children almost helped Izebel's mind to decipher everything that was going on. It was almost too easy to determine what was going down with the Wakandan royalty seeing out the help of a young scientist and medical doctor. The news was still running stories about the ultimate superhero showdown that occurred in Germany, and how it centered around the mysterious Winter Soldier who suddenly disappeared with Captain America. And now the young King T'Challa had made a bold move to suddenly be a leader in third world country development and poverty aid? A small smile slid across her face and Izebel bit into a jackfruit. Of course it was easy, now that she had all the pieces laid out in front of her.

The smile was enough to catch the attention of Nakita, who was initially distracted by T'Challa holding a small mixed toddler in his arms while explaining the animals he has seen on the savannah. Quickly glancing at Shuri, the sudden eye contact between the two women made it clear that everyone knew what the conversation would be like after they finished the meal.

"Well this was just simply delightful Adriana. You are blessed to have her in your life Ayo. If you would excuse me," T'Challa easily passed on Izebel's nephew to Ayo's outstretched arms, "I would love if Izebel would accompany my sister, Nakita and I on a tour of your village while we discuss some… important matters."

"Of course," Ayo stammered, struggling to keep the rambunctious toddler in his arms. Quickly, the Wakandans and Izebel cleaned up their utensils and plates before escaping the confined room.

T'Challa, while knowing the heaviness of what he was about to ask Izebel to agree to, almost seemed relaxed to Izebel. His hands were no longer clasped together tightly in front of him, but instead loosely hung by his side. He breathed in a deep sigh, before opening his eyes slowly and smiling almost lazily at the young doctor. And young she was. He noticed now she almost looked younger than his sister. The loose printed pants and black tee shirt were the most comfortable thing about her appearance, for the brunette was tense and calculating in her body language towards the king. He trusted Stark on this one, and knew she was the only way to help all sides get what they wanted.

"Ms. Anderson—"

"Doctor Izebel Anderson—" She corrected. T'Challa noticed her eyebrows seemed to get closer together after his misidentification.

"Sorry Dr. Anderson… Izebel" He decided to correct himself with the more friendly name, as if to soften the words coming out of his mouth next. "You clearly know what we are about to ask no? Stark told me you were bright. No doubt you have already placed the pieces together." Izebel only nodded in response. The tension almost seemed to disappear at that confession. Nakita and Shuri almost took simultaneous sighs of relief. While the young doctor seemed clearly pissed off by the furrowed facial features and crossed arms, there was no hint in her body language that suggested she was scared or opposed to the task placed in front of her.

"You want me to somehow miraculously heal the Winter Soldier. Restore the memories of Bucky Barnes. Yeah, figured that out pretty quick." Izebel rolled her eyes and the two women chucked.

"Think she will freeze?" Shuri whispered to Nakita. Nakita took a second look at this young girl.

"Oh yes."


	2. Chapter 2

Shuri was almost bouncing with the amount of excitement she had in her. Izebel had been flown to her lab that very evening after they met. The doctor was smart, Shuri would admit that much. But how well the doctor would hold up? No one really knew the answer to that question.

Shortly after Sergeant Barnes came to her lab broken and with a lack of a metal arm, Shuri had been at a loss as to how to fix the man. Sure, it was easy enough to design a vibranium arm to replace the old one he had, but mentally? Shuri wasn't anywhere near qualified to do that. Instead, this egotistical goateed man walked into her laboratory unannounced, and a gave her a file almost as big as her torso. The file contained every work and known SHIELD information regarding a soon to be Dr. Izebel Anderson from the United States.

"You know as much as SHIELD detested what HYDRA was all about with their Project Insight, they still kept tabs on the individuals identified by the program. This girl, Izebel, was one of the identified individuals. And well, based on the talk I saw her give on cognitive rehabilitation last year, I know that girl couldn't hurt a fly. However she is dangerously smart and knows far too much for a 24 year old girl. Could give Banner a run for his money. Anyways…" The billionaire apparently was a rambler. Shuri didn't even have a chance to say a word to him before he was leaving as quickly as he came in. "Read up on her file. She might be the help you need for your little frozen project downstairs."

The file was almost too much. Shuri certainly didn't need to know everything about Izebel's development from a four year old to a 24-year-old, but her completed thesis confirmed what Tony Stark was implying. It was too perfect for what they needed for a healer for the frozen project.

Shuri was back to bouncing again. The lab had never looked so clean. Black Panther suits stood in the corner of the lab while all the table tops had been organized by project and developmental stage. Nothing was out of line. The place practically sparkled, and it brought joy to Shuri's soul. On the left side of the lab, an office area was set aside with all the books and storage space the new incomer could want. It also contained several safety features hidden within the clear table tops, incase Izebel's patient wasn't so cooperative. But Shuri had a feeling the good doctor wouldn't be in the lab too much. Based on the files she read, she had a sneaking suspicion that the doctor and the sergeant would spend most of their time at the lake almost on the border of the small country. Not that Shuri minded. She already had small huts build down in that area for them.

"Sister," T'Challa drawled, a hint of amusement in his tone. "You look so excited I have expected our friend Sargent Barnes would be on this floor." Shuri slapped her brother's hand and crossed her arms across her chest in the shape of an X. A small smile appeared on the young doctor's face at the exchange between the siblings.

"If he were here brother, I wouldn't be able to show off the other levels of my lab to Izebel."

"There is more than one level to your laboratory?" Izebel squeaked out. The young girl was already overwhelmed with the sheer size of this floor that was all Shuri's. Her eyes quickly did another scan of the impeccably clean and shiny lab. It was such a state of the art lab it almost hurt her eyes to keep looking.

"Yes, Izebel. Can't be confined to one floor now can we?" Shuri laughed.

The tour of the lab was reasonably quick. For a king, T'Challa seemed not to have any pressing matters because he joined the two women on a walking tour of each level. Shuri didn't spend too long on each location of her lab because she knew it would be of no interest to the young scientist. Material development was Shuri's thing, not Izebel's. Izebel appreciated the quickness of that aspect of the tour because she was never fascinated by that area of research.

In total, Izebel counted ten levels designated for scientific research and development of just vibranium. There were two distinct floors only for medical research, and finally one for botanical research. An attractive addition, but T'Challa laughed and said something darkly about how the flowers here could be a lot more critical than she realized.

The basement floor was where they ended their tour. The room itself was bright. White seemed to be a typical color used to contrast against the dark silver of the vibranium was established every aspect of this building. The bottom floor was mostly empty though, except for the large white structural support beam in the middle of the room. But when encouraged to take a closer look by Shuri, Izebel quickly realized it wasn't a support beam at all.

Bucky Barnes was peacefully asleep. Well, not actually asleep. Frost was decorating the tube that encased the man indicating the "treatment" he was currently under. He was clothed in all white, much like the containment unit he was in.

"Where is his arm?" Izebel asked quietly, almost as if she would wake up the poor man. Shuri smiled before pulling open a drawer from the other side of the room. A giant silver arm appeared.

"Mr. Stark managed to ruin his previous arm, but I think Sergeant Barnes will appreciate the sleek upgrade. Would you like to ask him yourself?" Izebel's eyes widened at the thought. Would they really wake up this man on her first day here? Did Bucky even know she was going to be here?

Before Izebel could process more what if questions, T'Challa hit a small button near the sergeant's head, and the chamber began to hissed loudly. Izebel's eyes widened while Shuri and T'Challa watched her knowingly.

It was a slow process to wake the Winter Soldier. His container raised from a horizontal position to an upright position as the frost slowly left. It was gentle in a way. Eventually, the glass began to open, and a light breeze shifted the long brown strands blocking the man's eyes. Suddenly they snapped opened, and blue eyes fixated on the newest person in the room. The eyes were stone cold, Izebel noticed, and when she went to take a step forward to introduce herself a hand grabbed her waist forcefully.

"Oh my gosh!" Izebel screamed while a voice of a man behind her began to laugh loudly. The stone cold blue eyes started to fill with tears as the Winter Soldier's laugh matched the other giggles happening around her.

Izebel blushed and looked behind her. There stood a man with blonde hair leaning against the table, wiping tears from his eyes. "You should have SEEN your face!" He laughed. Shuri now was wiping matching tears of her own before answering the confused expression on Izebel's face.

"You wouldn't think we would actually send you into Bucky's life without testing to see if he would respond well from waking up from cycro sleep? We are not dumb. Steve here has been hiding out and helping Bucky regain some of his memories while we were waiting on all the background checks on you from Stark. You see, we have been somewhat able to help Bucky, but the real problem lies in this." And with that, Izebel saw a red notebook with a black star appear in front of her. Steve and Bucky seemed to have a grasp on their laughter now, and walked over to the pair of scientists. With a high five from T'Challa and Steve, Bucky stuck out his human hand to Izebel.

"My name is Bucky. Pleasure to meet you. Sorry about the joke. But we have been planning this for a week." A coy smile graced his features, and the small girl only huffed in reply.

"I could have peed my pants you know. That would have been an introduction."

With that snide comment, Steve began to chuckle again setting the ever stoic T'Challa off into a loud laugh. Izebel finally cracked a smile and shook the hand Bucky still had extended out to her. She also looked quizzically at the notebook that was still in Shuri's hands.

"That is all the information you need to help this brain to be put back together. I promise I am in my right mind, but there is still a training protocol set in there. We were hoping maybe you could help with that?" Bucky seemed almost shy now after scaring the poor girl. I mean, it made sense, seeing as though Izebel appeared to be the only qualified person to help heal his mind.

After taking the notebook, Bucky grabbed his new arm and locked it into the socket on his left shoulder. Izebel's eyes widened slightly at the movement but didn't comment. Instead, she flipped through a couple of pages and then looked around the room again.

"I feel as though I deserve an actual report of what has been going on. After all, I almost peed." Steve smiled at her request and stood up straight.

"What would you like to know?"

"Well for starters, what actually happened in the 'Civil War'?" Steve smiled politely while T'Challa grinned.

"I kicked his ass" T'Challa laughed.

"You did not," Bucky argued. Steve just laughed and gestured Izebel towards the staircase. Everyone followed suit with T'Challa, Shuri, and Bucky arguing about the outcome of the standoff in Germany.

"You see, after our disagreement in Germany, a lot of the Avengers went separate ways. Bucky and I ended up seeing refuge here with T'Challa after the mess in Siberia, which I'm sure Bucky will explain the Siberia thing more eventually. Regardless, Bucky voluntarily chose to cycro sleep because it was clear that the programming from HYDRA was still present and he could be a danger. He didn't want to come out of cycro until there was something to help him. Well, Tony and I have been talking, and obviously, the government does not know about these exchanges, but he assisted us in hacking into the list of all individuals who were listed on the Project Insight's hit list. We have been looking for potential super people for a while now. It's how we have gotten in contact with several people of interest. However, your name was very confusing to be on the list. You were just a student in school. But Tony went to watch several of your talks and realized how potentially dangerous you could have been to HYDRA. Your connection and research and overall intelligence when it comes to mental health is off the charts intimidating for that organization. While I mean there is time to develop your superpowers, Tony suggested that your research and background might actually help Bucky, and potentially all the Avengers. I've tried to understand some of your work," And for the first time, Steve seemed a little sheepish and unconfident. "I don't really understand most of it, but from your recorded talks you want to help. And that's all we can ask for."

"I promise I won't hurt you. Well, the Bucky side of me." His voice was confident. They were now crowded in the elevator, heading back up to the main research lab. Izebel could see in his eyes that Bucky was sure about his promise. "I've been up, out of cycro for about three months. Around the time you confirmed you would be coming to Nigeria. I haven't had any episodes, and Shuri has made sure I have full control of my arm. Steve has been helping me keep track of all the memories I have recovered so far, but there are a lot of gaps still. Something, maybe, you could help with."

"I can only promise my best Bucky. I'm kind of in uncharted territory here." Izebel confessed. It was suddenly overwhelming when Izebel started to understand what she was actually taking on here. The responsibility, the expectations. I mean, she had only just graduated from her residency program one month prior. And it was in general practice. Bucky's predicament sounded way out of her reach. Izebel wasn't one to give up so quickly though. It's how she got through all of her schoolings at such a young age.

The elevator doors opened and Izebel walked out with purpose towards the area Shuri indicated would be hers to work in. The group continued to follow her, so Izebel felt the need to explain herself.

"I'm just going to set up my office for now. Get a little organized and then do some light background reading" Izebel raised the red notebook quickly before setting it down on the clear table. Steve and Bucky looked at each other in confusion, while T'Challa and Shuri politely excused themselves to the other area of the lab.

"You are more than welcome to help unload these boxes if you want. I don't even really know what's in them, to be honest." Steve and Bucky looked relieved at being given a task. Soon the three were deep within the boxes that were stacked around her and Izebel turned on her music to keep them going.

Mostly the three Americans worked in quiet, just listening to the soft music coming from Izebel's speaker. Sometimes Bucky or Steve would ask questions about Izebel's preference about putting away a particular object or about her music selection. After three hours the lab was complete. The bookshelf next to her desk was overflowing with every textbook Izebel had during her time in undergraduate and graduate education. Lab notebooks from previous experiments were housed in a drawer on the bottom of the bookshelf, and the desk was cluttered with papers and textbooks that Izebel already deemed necessary for her "light background reading."

Again, an awkward tension was brought back when Steve and Bucky realized there was nothing else really to do. Man those two really seemed like soldiers, Izebel thought. Always waiting around for the next order. The tension was broke by a small beep coming from Steve. He lifted his watch towards his face and stared at it quizzically before beginning to excuse himself. But before he could give a good reason to believe, Izebel interrupted him.

"You have a smartwatch? I didn't realize you used that technology." It was out before Izebel realized how insulting the comment was. Heat began to flood her cheeks, and Bucky noticed a light pink tint on the tan girl's face. Bucky laughed, and Steve looked exasperated.

"Have to stay ahead on crime some way," he sarcastically replied. "I'm just going to head out for a mission. Buck, I'm sorry, but you gotta stay behind. Maybe talk to the nice doctor lady and have a cup of tea or something." Steve looked at Izebel and extended a hand, "Nice meeting you, Dr. Anderson. I will be checking in soon. I promise." And with that Steve jogged towards the exit, concern written all over his face.

"Well," Bucky breathed, "I mean, I can get going if you wanna read. Or, I could stay and chat. I don't really know how this doctor thing is going to work…"

It was then Izebel realized that maybe, she might actually be intimidating to these people. The thought almost made her laugh. But instead, she tried to comfort the man.

"Oh my gosh. I am so sorry. I'm sure you have like no idea what to do with me. Do you... I mean if you want… we can just… talk? I'm kind of new to this medical practice thing too." Bucky raised his eyebrows at her.

"New to… what do you mean new to this medical practice thing? You have your degrees don't you?" Izebel blushed more violently this time.

"Well I mean, yes. I do. Well… you know it might be best if we talk about this. What your expectations are and maybe I can tell you a bit about myself?" Bucky seemed to relax at this offer. He smiled lightly before suggesting he give her a tour around the city.

And that's where Izebel found herself 20 minutes later, at the heart of the Wakandan Capitol. Some children would run by Bucky giving him a high-five before shouting White Wolf and running away. The street was filled with life. Floating trains zoomed overhead, and the chatter on the street drowned out the calm savannah sounds Izebel had grown used to over the past month.

Bucky watched the young woman take in the sites of the city. He remembered how overwhelming the city was when he first arrived here with T'Challa after the Siberia showdown. He noticed now in the sunlight really how young Izebel was. Her file said she was twenty-six years old, but looked more like a beginning college student. She was small compared to him too, no more than five feet four inches in stature. Izebel's hair caught the sun, and he noticed the red and light brown streaks in her hair. How could it be that this tiny human being who didn't look like she could take down an ant was on the kill list for HYDRA?

"Have you liked Nigeria and Wakanda so far?" Bucky asked innocently. He noticed Izebel could get lost in thought quickly and wanted to bring himself back to her attention. Izebel looked over and smiled quickly.

"Yeah, it's been nice. I've actually been here several times, you know with my sister being a missionary and all." Izebel crossed her arms at this confession. Bucky noticed she was almost uncomfortable with the small talk. But it was only fair, Bucky thought. He was uncomfortable with science and medical talk.

"What exactly is a missionary?"

"Well you see, you probably already know this, but my father is a pastor."

"I thought priests couldn't have children." At that statement, Izebel laughed. She started walking down the busy street, and Bucky quickly matched her pace.

"Well, no. But my dad is like one of those funny preachers down south who have ten thousand kids. It was just my sister and me though. And my mom. She immigrated from Italy ya know? She homeschooled us until my sister went to college and I followed her even though I was twelve." Izebel saw Bucky's eyebrows raise at the mention of her age, but she kept going. He seemed more relaxed the more she told him about her background. "My sister is a missionary though now. Which means she comes to areas that the church deems needs to see a revival of Christ. The organization she works under tried to station her in Wakanda, but they weren't accepting help at the time. Instead, Adriana made camp on the Nigeria-Wakanda border and began setting up a village that included a school and a medical center. Nakita brings a lot of human trafficking refugees there now. But my sister loves doing what she does. My family will come now and then to visit and help her. So I've been to Nigeria several times. However, this is my first time in Wakanda, and it's completely flabbergasting. I never expected anything like this."

The conversation seemed to move easily after that. Bucky and Izebel covered basic topics about their past, favorite food, and other mundane first conversation topics. The pair rounded the whole city during this time, pausing to look at some of the trinkets and food stands. Eventually, the wind began to pick up, and the temperature began to drop as they found themselves back at the entrance to the labs. Bucky became unsure of himself again. Not knowing what to do now that dinner was almost upon them and the general topics had been discussed already. Izebel sighed and looked at the sad man.

"I think we should really talk about what you want from me. I won't know how to help if I don't know where to begin." Izebel remained calm and steady in her voice, but Bucky could see in her posture that she was tense. Clearly nervous. "It's just… I really only have a background in science and botany and medicine. I don't really have an evil scientist bone in my body. So this human experimentation you have been through… it's beyond what I've seen in my studies." Bucky smiled at the sly comment on evil scientists. She could joke. That was good.

"I'm not going to promise to be the best patient. But I know I need some resolution in my life. A little more guidance about getting my mental health into a more stable spot. I've done terrible things Izebel. Things that I don't even know if you are ready to hear. I also know I have training embedded into my mind that when someone says the magic words, I could kill in a heartbeat if instructed to do so." Bucky ran his metal hand through his hair before making eye contact with Izebel. There was no hint of fear in Izebel's stature. Not even in her dark brown eyes could Bucky find a single ounce of hesitation. "I just need, someone to help me, guide me through this. It's beyond what I can understand, and I need to heal before I can help others."

Izebel smiled. The man before her wasn't the assassin the news channels broadcasted all those years ago. Instead, it was a broken, sad, lost man. That was something she could help with.

With an even more prominent smile, Izebel uncrossed her arms and placed them on her hips.

"Sounds like we are in business Bucky."


	3. Chapter 3

The cool morning air made it easy for Izebel's thoughts to flow. It had only been two days since Bucky and her were introduced, but Izebel was finding it to be hard where to start her treatment with the super soldier. She had finished her initial reading of the red journal from HYDRA, and was almost in tears half the time. It was truly amazing the calm nature Bucky had now after the torture he was subjected to. Even his arm was a medical torture device. It was noted the original arm caused a great deal of pain to him when first placed. Izebel assumed that's why there was so much scarring around the initial shoulder plating.

Breathing deeply again, Izebel focused on why she was up here. A medical practice plan. There was so many places she could begin with her plan. She could work with recreational therapy techniques, start a dietary supplement program, or even focus on meditation. It wouldn't make sense to throw everything at once onto Bucky. The change of pace might be too much at once. No, she should start as small as she could. Bucky didn't even seem to have a preference on where to start either. He was just happy for the help, which made it all the more difficult for Izebel to begin.

There was once a time that while Izebel was completing her clinical rounds of her medical degree, she enrolled into the VA rotation for a 6 week period. It was really her only experience with Bucky's kind of trauma and the 6 weeks didn't seem like enough anymore for her. Rotations were always like that though. As soon as a student was acclimated to the group they were ripped away to the next specialty. But she remembered the Veterans. Some of them were more recently active, but others were older. There were two WWII veterans in their 90's that would talk Izebel's ear off every time they saw her during the group sessions. Maybe Bucky and Steve would have been like that if they had the opportunity to grow old.

"I think maybe if we just start there, like the guys in the group sessions, we could determine a better medical plan." Izebel spoke out loud to herself. Nodding in agreement to her own statement, Izebel refocused her attention on the sun that was peeking out from the mountains. Around her, the vibranium making the panther's mouth began to reflect the morning rays. Instead of watching the rest of the sunrise, Izebel got up and eagerly walked back inside the panther's mouth. When she got into the elevator, she ran into exactly the person she was looking for.

"Bucky! Good morning! I have an idea of where we might want to start today." Before she could get carried away, Bucky raised his human hand in her face while rubbing his eyes with the metal one. Looking at him Izebel realized he just woke up. A slight blush reached her cheeks when she noticed the lack of shirt on the solider.

"Well aren't you a morning person." Bucky grumbled. He had never really been a morning person, and most wake ups in HYDRA were also associated with electric shock. Sue the guy for not liking mornings. Bucky noticed quickly though the doctor was quiet, and looking over he saw the slight pink on her tanned cheeks. Bucky couldn't help but smirk at that.

"I'm sorry. I just normally get up early. Ever since rotations and such with school." Izebel lamely responded. She didn't look at Bucky though. "Umm.. whenever you are ready then, if you want to meet up in the lab we can start on the plan."

"I was planning on breakfast first. Did you want any?" Izebel stared at him for a second. He was seriously asking her to breakfast when he didn't have a shirt on?

"Umm.. Sure.. I guess. I didn't have breakfast yet."

"You are telling me you haven't even had a coffee and you are already this perky at 6 in the morning?" Bucky groaned. Of course the doctor would be into mornings. Maybe it was just a doctor things.

"I don't drink coffee. Just tea." Izebel got off the elevator while Bucky lead the way to the main kitchen of the lab. If Izebel was being honest, she was glad Bucky was showing her where everything was. It had only been two days after all and she really only knew where the exits were and where her lab and bedrooms were located. Bucky was already filling the coffee pot with water by the time Izebel had fully taken in the kitchen.

Everything seemed to be one solid color in Wakanda. The kitchen was no exception. Instead of white this time, silver was the color. All the appliances and counter tops were shiny. Izebel opened up the refrigerator door, half expecting all the food to be silver as well. But instead it was stocked with an amazing supply of what could only be described as American food.

"They stock up our kitchen with American food." Bucky confirmed. The coffee pot was starting to sizzle with the water boiling inside. He had somehow managed to find a hoodie during this time, which matched his black sweatpants.

"Seems to me like a waste. I'm sure Wakandan products are just as delicious." Izebel grumbled before pulling out a carton of eggs and a gallon of milk. "Scrambled eggs?"

"Please" Bucky replied, finding two mugs from one of the cabinets. "There is a tea kettle on the stove. I don't know what kind of tea we have."

"That's okay. I know where they are. It's in the pantry in the wooden box." Bucky nodded and went into the pantry to look for the box. It was a comfortable silence that followed. The two American made themselves comfortable in the kitchen. Bucky didn't do much to help, but Izebel didn't seem to want the help either. She whisked the eggs violently in a metal bowl while Bucky sipped lightly on his coffee. Soon the tea kettle whistled and Bucky finally began to help Izebel out. He removed the water from its burner while Izebel removed the eggs from the skillet and separated them onto two plates. Bucky noticed he got two thirds of the eggs. She also had toast on the plates already, lathered in butter.

"Did you want a certain tea bag in your water?" Bucky asked. Izebel nodded, and explained to him which compartment had the tea bag she wanted.

"What is in this?" Bucky wondered out loud. The cloth package held some sort of chopped green leaf. But when he went to package, it gave off a strong mint odor.

"I'm sure you can smell it, but its mint. Really good for headaches and insomnia. You can try some if you would like. I personally prefer it with honey." Bucky just nodded at the explanation, but didn't take a tea bag for himself. Instead, he sat down on the kitchen chair, and started on the plate of food Izebel had slid over to him.

"So you are into tea? I think Tony said something about that."

"Did you not read my file?" Izebel asked in amusement. She had seen the detailed file on Shuri's desk yesterday. It was a little too thorough for Izebel, because all her personal medical files, transcripts, and recommendations were in there.

"It was a lot of science for Steve and I. Shuri had already decided you were a good fit. I think she is the only one here who has read your file thoroughly. Tony obviously did. He was the one collecting most of it. The Vision guy probably also has read your file." Bucky smiled sheepishly. He knew how weird it must be for her to know all these Avengers had access to her private information. Izebel just shrugged and ate more of her eggs in thought.

"I guess I will have to read it maybe. But I did want to talk to you about my plan. It was two days in the making you know." Izebel looked over at Bucky, but he didn't seem intrigued or disinterested. Just a blank expression on his face. Izebel continued anyways, "I mean, I think it's a pretty good plan. I was struggling to figure out where to start you know? There are so many things we could do but I realized I really don't know where you are at. I know you said you have no more triggers right now, but there was still that dormant programing within your mind that we will have to address at some point. But I don't know what kind of memories you have and if they are causing stress to your mind or body when you remember them."

"I have a lot of memories. Some are good and some are bad." Bucky muttered.

"Well that's good. But I really think where we should start is you telling me where you are at." Bucky just huffed at this suggestion. He barely talked to Steve about those memories. This girl was so little, and although he knew that she would want to know the memories, he highly doubted she would be okay with hearing about all the gruesome things that came out of it.

"You know I worked at a VA clinic for a bit. It was a voluntary rotation I decided to do in my last year of medical school. I really liked those guys, and we did a lot of group sessions to talk about their mental health issues they were dealing with after their service was complete. I know Sam did a lot of stuff like that and that's how he got involved with Steve." Based on Bucky's interest in his eggs, Izebel could see this idea wasn't really appealing to him.

"Listen, it's going to be tough. I can't know where to begin until you tell me where to start. Knowing where your brain is at now with its recovery is the best place for me to say whether we start with cranial sacral therapy or dietary changes." Izebel ended her monologue with a stab to her eggs and chewed while looking at Bucky. She could see his eyebrows furrowing. She waited for him to answer instead of speaking more. Izebel could run into random tangents if she kept talking, and would be counterproductive.

"Listen, it's a little… hard… to talk about the memories. I have a journal that I have kept of any memory that I have gained since leaving HYDRA. If you want, I can give it to you to read. It might be easier for you to read through it than me trying to remember it all while talking to you." The offer made Izebel smile. She took his empty plate and placed it into the sink to wash.

"I think that's a great idea. If you want, we can come up with other things while I'm spending time on your journal. Maybe we can agree that the 'doctor appointments' will be in the afternoon while we spend our morning separately. Do you want to return back to fighting?"

The question was sudden and took Bucky off guard. The dark brunette seemed like such a pacifist, it was almost ironic for her to be discussing medical clearance for him to kill people.

"Of course. I want to be able to help Steve." Bucky knew that to be true. Izebel smiled, and handed Bucky a towel to dry the dishes. He reluctantly got up and began to help her. She smiled again, and Bucky noticed she did that a lot. Maybe it was a doctor thing, to make their patients feel better.

"That's good. You should have a purpose or an end goal for doing all of this. Maybe we can set up a really good schedule for us while we are messing with your noggin huh? I have some ideas." And with that Izebel began to ramble about diet, massage therapy and words Bucky was fairly certain she was coming up with on the spot. The dishes were done quickly and Izebel finally took a breath and drank the remaining tea in her mug.

"I'm going to give you things to read up on. And put some suggested foods to incorporate into your diet onto the fridge. And if you could give me that notebook, I could get started and tomorrow we are on a good schedule." Izebel's eyes twinkled with excitement and Bucky smiled softly in return.

"That sounds like a really good routine Izebel. Here, follow me and I will get you those notebooks."

"Notebooks, as in multiple?" Izebel questioned shocked. Bucky laughed.

"It's been over 3 years since I left HYDRA. I think I have more than just one notebook of memories."

Wakanda made it easy to fall into a simple routine. Izebel would be in the lab at 7 am, almost 3 hours before Shuri every morning. Shuri would always politely greet her and drop off a bowl of fruit and yogurt on the woman's desk before starting on her own work. Shuri tinkered and Izebel read. Sometimes Izebel would pull a pen from her ear and write down notes in a new tan notebook. Bucky would eventually come in sometime in the afternoon bringing a sandwich or other lunch like item for the doctor. He never stayed in the lab long. Both Izebel and Bucky would instead take a stroll around the outskirts of the Wakandan city, taking in the beauty of the country while having deep conversation about Bucky's past. And every night, Bucky would escort Izebel back to her living quarters before heading to bed himself.

Bucky was alarmed one day when he walked into the lab and nearly dropped the canvas bag filled with fruit when he noticed Izebel wasn't there. Quickly examining the room, it was obvious she hadn't been there all day. Her brown notebook was still in the same spot she had left it yesterday afternoon when Shuri joined them for their walk to introduce them to the small huts she had built down by the lake.

"It's Sunday you know." Shuri remarked, looking at the confused assassin. Bucky looked sheepish for a second before turning around to look at her.

"Yes, and?" Bucky grumbled. For Bucky, it was hard to keep track of time. Time was a jumbled concept in his mind. He didn't even truly believe it was over 2 years since Germany. It also didn't help the poor man was always in and out of cycro-sleep. Shuri had walked over to him by this point and grabbed his human hand. Bucky tensed for a second before realizing she was putting a pair of keys in his hand.

"Izebel went to go see her sister this morning. It's Sunday and her sister's village was holding a religious ceremony this morning. I dropped her off before sunrise so she could have time with her family. Maybe you should go and pick her up tonight?" Shuri suggested it almost innocently. However, there was motive behind Shuri's suggestion. The Captain and her had discussed this idea at length.

Steve had discussed with Shuri about how Bucky was when they were growing up in Brooklyn. When Steve lost his family, Bucky's family adopted him and include him in the family traditions of the Barnes household, which also included Sundays spent at church and then having a family dinner. Steve had suggested maybe that type of normalcy might be beneficial to Bucky's recovery. The more similar his current life was to the life he lost, maybe he could be triggered to remember more of that life. Shuri couldn't help but agree.

Bucky loved it in Wakanda. Shuri didn't blame him. She loved her country and how friendly everyone was to the man they all affectionately called White Wolf behind his back. He was more opened to healing when the people around him were not scared or judgmental. However, Shuri suspected that his healing would be stalled because he wasn't pushed to remember and forgive himself. Just forget the life he left behind and never address it. Tony Stark was a cleaver man to investigate Project Insight for himself.

"Thank you. Does the plane have her sister's village's coordinates in them?" Bucky asked. He held onto the keys tightly. Shuri nodded before giving him a once over. He was in red robes and his hair was tied up in a knot on the top of his head, something Nakita taught him several weeks back. It was called a man bun if she remembered correctly.

"Yes it does. Would you like a different outfit? You seemed to wear that one quite a bit." Shuri started to walk towards her lab, hoping to be able to show him some of the new products she had made for him but Bucky shook his head.

"Thank you Shuri, but I don't think a new super suit is exactly what I need." Bucky smiled when the girl grinned.

"It's not always super suits with me Barnes." She replied smoothly. But her laugh after the statement clearly gave her away.

"You tried to sell Steve on a new set of shield the last time he was here. It's always super suits with you. I will look at them later this week alright? Maybe even test them against the 'Black Panther' if it would make you happy." Shuri laughed in delight at this promise.

"I will hold you to that Sargent Barnes. Don't think I won't remember that!" Shuri called after him but he was already walking away to the landing pad. T'Challa arrived shortly after Bucky's departure and smiled at his sister.

"What is this I hear about me having to take on our White Wolf?" Shuri snorted, but brought her brother over to the hologram she was working on.

"Wait till you see what I have planned for him."

It was easy enough for Bucky to use the Wakandan planes. The technology was similar enough to the SHIELD planes he had stolen during his time as the Winter Soldier. However, he would never get use to the steering wheel being globes for him to move around. The flight path didn't even look very long. A total of twenty minutes and he would be at the landing site for Adriana's village. He smiled at the thought. Bucky hadn't been out of Wakanda since waking from the cycro-sleep. All Avengers and former members agreed it was best if Bucky laid low in the Wakandan city instead of popping up on the radar of the United Nations.

Twenty minutes passed quickly and Bucky could see the small village easily as he landed in the nearby field. It was only a 10 minute walk to the village from where he landed but the small brunette ambushed him half way to the village.

"You came! Shuri mentioned that you might come early to hang out. Here, come meet my sister. I told her all about you."

Bucky noticed the lack of adults in this village. Tons of children were in the street, playing games with one another and laughing. Izebel lead him to the main house of the village, holding his metal hand the whole time while dragging him there. She pointed out small huts, explaining their purpose and when her or her family had built them. Finally, Izebel was barreling through the front door of the main house, and was immediately attacked by 2 small dark skinned children.

"Auntie! You are back with your friend! Mamma said as soon as you got here we could have lunch!" The kids began to explain the short story to Izebel about their mother's demands and Bucky smiled as Izebel took her niece and nephew into her arms.

He noticed how her hair was styled differently today. Bucky was used to the simple half bun half hair down do she would rock in the lab and out on their walks. But today her curls were loose around her face, and the hair that would normally be tied into the bun was lightly braided around the crown of her head. Her niece must have placed a flower in her hair at some point, because they were haphazardly littered through the braids.

"Who is this?" Izebel smiled at her curious nephew. Bucky noticed he was around 5, and he looked at the curious child. Izebel interrupted him before he could introduce himself to the kid.

"They call him White Wolf."

"Izebel." Bucky groaned. Not again with this stupid nickname.

"Well that's a very confusing name. Didn't your mother give you a different name than one of an animal?" The niece was very judgmental with her side eye to him, and Bucky glared at Izebel when she started to laugh.

"My real name is James. But my friends call me Bucky. Your aunt is mean and calls me White Wolf." Bucky explained. The 5 year old boy scoffed.

"You have too many names. I have one. It's Solly." The 5 year old announced.

"Mine is Esther!" The younger girl announced clapping her hands. "I have a younger brother. We call him Buddy. The mom gave him was awful. Who wants to be named Gideon?" Bucky just smiled at the young girl while Solly climbed down and grabbed Bucky's metal finger.

"Silver is my favorite color."

"Mine too" Bucky found himself saying. With that confession Solly tugged on Bucky's index finger and lead him into the main living room.

 _Today should be a good day_. Izebel thought to herself, closing the door behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

"And then, one time, we got on this big truck and we were able to see lions! Did you know only the boy lions have manes? It's like your beard. Because girls don't grow beards." Solly was growing close to Bucky all afternoon. It didn't take long for the young boy to welcome the stranger into his play room and introduce him to all the toys he had littered around the room. Admittedly, there weren't a lot of toys. Most of them were hand stitched dolls or plushies of animals, but after a quizzical look from Bucky, Izebel explained that Adriana wanted to keep the toys to a minimum so they matched the amount of toys the other children in the village had access to.

Izebel was sitting in a rocking chair reading to Esther. Even the youngest, Buddy, was laying on his play mat in between the two adults, just looking up at the mobile. Adriana and Ayo left to do some rounds with the other missionaries on site. Because it was a Sunday, it was the busiest day for those two. Izebel had promised her sister she would come by today specifically because a new recruit of missionaries had just arrived and did not have a handle on working the place just yet. Plus it gave her more time with her family.

"Do you like lions? I really like lions." Solly continued his monologue and much to Izebel's amusement, Solly crawled into the unexpecting assassin's lap, and cuddled in with the lion. Bucky's eyes widened in alarm, and Izebel just snickered at the poor man.

"Solly, its close to nap time bud. Esther is already falling asleep over here. Did you want Bucky to tuck you in and read you a story?" Solly just nodded and snuggled closer into Bucky's chest. He shook his head at Izebel but she just waved him on. "Go, I can't leave Buddy behind. What if he chokes on his own spit or something?"

Bucky just rolled his eyes and gracefully picked up the drowsy child and snagged a book from the bookshelf. Izebel smiled extra big and Bucky just rolled his eyes one more time.

"Hey Solly, you are going to have to point me and Mr. Lion to your bed alright?" Solly mumbled something in response and Bucky set off down the hall. Izebel couldn't help but keep smiling. She had hoped Bucky would be softer and less guarded than he was in the Wakandan city, and so far her hopes were coming true. She brushed the stray hairs from her nieces face and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. Esther was asleep now, and Izebel just watched Buddy while waiting for Bucky to finish his story.

Bucky's voice carried through the house and he told a tale of Winnie the Pooh to her nephew. It was strange to hear such innocent words come out of his mouth, when most of the conversations they had were not so innocent. Bucky's stories mostly came with heartbreak, sorrow, blood and tears. He had finished the book, but Izebel could hear no noise. Not until he was behind her.

"I can take her if you would like. Her bed seems to be right next to his." Izebel jumped at the closeness of his voice. It was right in her ear, and she could see both of his arms reaching out from behind her to pick up her niece. Esther barely stirred while Bucky cradled her to his chest.

Izebel moved quietly to lay down next to Buddy. He wasn't going to go to sleep anytime soon, she knew it based on the violent kicks the baby would do when a new song would start on the mobile. Bucky returned quicker this time, and laid down opposite of Izebel. He propped his head on his arm and looked over at her.

"Thank you for inviting me into your family's home. I know it must be a little weird to bring your work home." Bucky looked at the baby sheepishly. He knew how much of a risk he could be, and for him to be with her family showed the immense trust this doctor had in him.

Izebel just sighed. "You know this isn't about your health right now right. And of course I trust you. Bucky, you are a simple man, who has been through some not so simple things."

"That's an understatement." Bucky chuckled darkly. Buddy giggled in response, allowing a smile to grow on the forlorn face.

"Bucky, you need to remember some stability. I was honestly worried with the lack of memories from your childhood in comparison to the memories from your other life. This isn't a science experiment here. This is showing you some family again. A life away from the super hero stuff. I was hoping maybe if you liked it enough here, you might want to join in on some family things. Just for a bit of normality." Izebel's eyes softened as she said this. Bucky's blue ones met her deep brown ones and he smiled.

"You have been nothing but kind Izebel. It's much more than I can ask for." Izebel scoffed at the remark.

"Please, you just haven't seen me at my worst yet. I can be so mean." Bucky glanced over at the small women.

"I highly doubt that. You could barely push over Solly." Bucky laughed at Izebel's scoff and rolled over onto his back.

"I wouldn't want to push over my nephew anyways." Izebel grumbled. Bucky just laughed again, before letting the two fall into a comfortable silence. For several minutes, Buddy's mobile songs were the only sounds coming from the living room. But eventually, Bucky decided to break the silence.

"I realized I don't really know that much about you." It wasn't a question, Izebel realized, and she rolled onto her back as well. Izebel rubbed her palms against her green linen pants and sighed.

"No, I guess you don't. I read my file. It's really more of a collection of my educational background. That's what is most public. And I'm sure my vaccine history isn't really of any concern for the Avengers" Izebel scoffed.

"So you did read your file." Bucky stated amused. He knew the girl would. Izebel sighed.

"It was actually kind of disappointing. For as much information as you guys had, I don't think you really got all the important stuff down. Most of it was literally my research. It's not like I have fought in anything for you guys to put down. But I have other skills besides my brain."

"So what would you consider your other assets?" Bucky asked immediately. There was no way, according to Bucky, that Izebel wasn't an open book. Tony probably had all her information on file, and he didn't think she could keep a secret about abilities. Although, she was far too small in his books to be able to have any physical capabilities, but it never ruled out other more mystical and magical ones.

"Ummm I can drive almost any vehicle. Like, if you guys bothered to look at my license, I can drive a motorcycle. And I have the ability to fix those types of machines too. I just don't enjoy it." Bucky raised his eyebrows at this confession, and rolled over to look at her. Izebel could feel the quizzical stare from Bucky, and rolled over to look at him.

"You know I'm from the south right? It makes me pretty kick ass even if I spent most of my years up north." Izebel's dark eyebrows raised challengingly and Bucky just smiled softly.

"You know, the south could have meant something very different in my time."

"Yeah, well, we are still just as stubborn and obsessed with agriculture and guns as they probably were back then. And the military gosh, I wanted to join the military. But I was too young when I applied to be ROTC with the medical program. Who would want to sign a 16 year old girl? Its why I started with a PhD shortly after beginning my MD program."

Bucky sat up at this new information. Buddy giggled, and the assassin got bopped with a plush giraffe on his way up. Izebel grinned at the movement.

"So wait, you are telling me you were going to be in the military and they turned you down?" Izebel laughed at his shocked expression.

"I was so mad too. I have a good shot, I was going to become a doctor and I could have easily been trauma if I had wanted too. Or at least that's what I thought. One day in surgery and I realized that probably wasn't for me." Bucky still had a bewildered look on his face.

"Speak your mind Bucky."

"But you are so small!" He finally exclaimed. Izebel snorted. He wasn't wrong. Izebel barely came up to his shoulders standing straight. She hasn't always been this tall either, so when a 5'2" girl came in to sign up for the Army Medical unit she wasn't shocked at the laughs she got.

"I may be small but I am fierce Bucky. Why on earth would they stick me with you if I couldn't handle myself?" Bucky's mouth closed at that comment. He opened and closed it a couple of times, trying to best phrase his question.

"Why would you think the military would be the best spot for you to go once becoming a doctor?"

Izebel's smile softened at that. She sat up too, moving the mobile faster for Buddy. She crossed her legs and thought about how she would answer this. Bucky was a man, most likely either forced to enlist or drafted during a World War that people didn't come back from. She was a small town, intelligent girl who was going to choose herself to enlist as a doctor and go to the Middle East, where they we not friendly to women. When Izebel looked up from her hands, she noticed the very blue eyes staring at her, waiting for a response.

"It sounds, silly, for lack of a better word. But I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself. I figured the military would be the best way to do that. It wasn't until one of my mentors in the medical program told me I would be worth more doing research that I actually considered the prospect of doing something like that. Being on the front line of discovery instead of treatment." She could feel the blush slightly dusting her cheeks as she confessed this, but Bucky just smiled softly. He relaxed further in his upright position, and even let Buddy grab one of his metal fingers before speaking again.

It was then her sister and brother in law came back in, looking disgruntled and hungry. Izebel smiled at them and Bucky gave a wave. Adriana smiled at the scene of her sister, son and Bucky.

"Izebel, you should show him around the village. I'm sure you dragging him here didn't let him actually know what was going on. And don't worry," Adriana pointed a finger at Bucky, "None of these missionaries will see you. I have them all wrangled up in the kitchen working on dinner for the kids."

"Thank you," Bucky replied softly, and separated his finger from the baby. Izebel smiled big at her sister and took Bucky's hand once again, leading him outside the house.

"Do you want to see my infirmary?" Izebel asked, already leading him to a smaller house next to her sister's.

"I don't think I have a choice," He muttered sarcastically, before entering the small building. Inside was a very friendly doctor's office, filled with colorful pictures and artwork obviously made by the kids in the village. Everything burst with life and he could help but think that if Izebel actually had her own practice in the States, it would very much look like this one here.

"We have a lot of kids come in," Izebel said, noticing how Bucky examined the artwork carefully. She walked over to her favorite piece, the one of the safari a 16 year old girl had drawn for her. It was very realistic, and painted beautifully.

"They were all either part of a human trafficking group or were child soldiers." Izebel answered Bucky's one unanswered question. Bucky's eyebrows rose at the confession. "They are still kids though, so we try and make it as fun as possible for them. Some stay until they are 18, some we get back to their families. Some, we find don't have families and we keep them here under our protection. Some have even asked to be adopted to new families, wishing to leave the reminder of what happened to them."

"And your sister runs all of this?" Bucky asked. Izebel smiled at the astonishment in his voice.

"She was the one who spearheaded this project. She had been here for a while, setting up schools and villages along the Wakandan border. But then she ran into Nakita a couple of year back. Adriana obviously didn't know who she was at the time. Nakita promised to help her build a village as long as it was only with the people she had been saving. And low and behold Nakita showed up almost every month with more supplies, children, and help from Wakandans." Izebel shrugged and moved over to her cabinets, checking to make sure everything was restocked properly.

"That is impressive." Bucky finally said. He had heard about these types of things now. Shuri talked about her and Nakita's new outreach programs in inner cities around the world. But this was something more hidden and protected.

"My dad was ready to dragger her back to our small town when he heard what her plans were after graduation. But when he saw her talk about it in person, he let her go. She has built an empire here. And the kids are so happy. That's all you can really ask for." Izebel smiled.

"You were trying to live up to your sister," Bucky laughed suddenly. Izebel only blushed.

"Yeah, pretty hard to live up to something like this though." Bucky looked at her, trying to read her emotions. She was pretty good in sessions guarding her thoughts from him so he could just speak without judgement. But now, she was an open book. Izebel could feel him studying her. She let him stare, wondering what he could see across her face.

"You know, my mother always said I was an open book. Easy to read and stuff. It was only during clinical settings could I put up a good enough front to keep the people from reading me."

"She isn't wrong," Bucky laughed, but didn't elaborate further. She could feel the curiosity eating at her, but Izebel decided not to question further.

"So southern bells now are shooting?" Bucky changed the subject. Izebel laughed, and began to explain all about her little, quaint home town.

"Bucky you have so much to catch up with."


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you everyone who has been commenting and following. I hope you are enjoying the story.**

After the first Sunday spent with her sister, Bucky made it a point to go with Izebel. He enjoyed the family atmosphere, much like Izebel said he would. And it was nice to be able to talk freely and openly with the two girls from America. It was like a little bit of his old home was back.

Today, Izebel dragged Bucky out to the lake Shuri showed them when they first arrived. It was a place she loved to talk with Bucky and just feel a little less clinical. Bucky was softer out here, more opened. She saw him now, just standing peacefully on the shoreline. He would move a piece of hair out of his eyes every now and then.

"I know, we have discussed a lot," Her doctor voice rang loud, causing Bucky's eyes to furrow. "But, I was wondering how are you with your memories. Like, do you feel like you are getting anywhere with me?"

A flash of several emotions took over the man's face, and Izebel inched closer to him. Bucky just sighed at the movement, and walked into the water, keeping a distance from her.

"I feel progress, but not with the memories but the emotions behind them. I'm still… struggling." He admitted. Bucky looked towards his feet, and watched the water ripple around his ankles. He saw her feet soon join his, and looked up at her innocent face. Izebel tried to remain calm when Bucky observed her. It was nerve racking that he could easily tell her emotions, but right now, she felt a little bit more comfortable in his presence then she had that very first day. Feeling the breeze blow across her face, she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Bucky, you can't expect _everything_ to come back now that you changed your diet."

"Its been 3 years Izebel. Three _years._ " Bucky wheezed out. Izebel, still looking out along the lake, reached for Bucky's hand and took it in a comforting manner. He felt her thumb rub small circles on the back of his human hand, and tensed up at the feeling. Bucky didn't pull back, and Izebel smiled at the victory.

"It's not all going to come back at once. It never was. It took them _years_ for them to change you into what they wanted, so you can expect the same long road back. But hopefully this time with a little more peace and gentle prodding." Bucky squeezed her hand in reply but didn't speak. Suddenly, Izebel noticed the slight elevation in his breath rate, and turned to look at him quickly. Before she could even think about all the boundaries she was breaking, she grabbed his face and pulled it to her own.

"Breathe Buck. Just breathe. In and out." Bucky's eyes screwed shut at the contact on his face, but listened to the instructions none the less. His breathing slowed, and Izebel's thumbs trace small circles on his cheeks. Izebel realized now this was the first time she grabbed him to physically calm him down, and probably too compassionate for her own good. The muscles in his face relaxed and he took a big breath. Izebel blushed slightly and removed her hands from his face, instead placing them on his shoulders.

"You don't have to feel like now that I'm here it should all come back. We are working on it. You are _safe_ here with me. And if it's any comfort. I'm frustrated too. I just want you healthy… whole… happy…" She trailed off. Izebel could feel the warmness in her stomach, but ignored it. Bucky opened his eyes finally, looking at her and smiling softly.

"Thank you." He replied, and took a step away, letting her hands fall back to her side. Yes, she had definitely crossed a line with personal space. But panic attacks were no laughing matter, and who knows what Bucky might do if he were to have one. Taking her free hand she bushed part of her hair behind her ear and turned back to the lake again.

"If you would like, I think T'Challa and Shuri were going to invite us to dinner?" Bucky broke the silence between the two. Izebel nodded her head.

"Yeah I heard that too. What do you think they are going to interrogate us about today?" Izebel joked. Bucky smiled coyly.

"You never know what Shuri has up her sleeves. Always something. Sneaky kid." And with that the two walked back to the city, regaining the small talk about Izebel's preferences in weapons. Izebel had noticed since the first day at her sister's house, he always like to bring up her abilities with weapons, almost like that was a common conversation Bucky had in his past life.

Dinner was simple with Shuri and T'Challa. Often times Shuri would bond with Izebel during these moments, talking about typical teenager things like vine videos, memes and science. Well, the science wasn't so typical for most teenagers, but for Shuri and Izebel, their lives were surrounded by it.

"Agent Ross will be in town soon." T'Challa's accented voice rang through Shuri's monologue about Buzzfeed. She smiled instead. Bucky just gripped his utensil tighter and Izebel looked confused.

"Agent Ross?" Izebel asked. Shuri smiled.

"Another little broken white boy my brother brought to me a long time ago," Shuri said smugly and Bucky just grunted.

"He is also the CIA agent who lead the investigation to find me." Bucky provided. Izebel's eyes just raised.

"So why is he coming here?" She asked. T'Challa sighed, giving Bucky a side glance before answering her question.

"It common for Agent Ross to check in on his and us on him. We have had a good relationship since the investigation of Sergeant Barnes. We even healed him and he help me restore the crown." T'Challa explained simply.

"You healed him?" Izebel asked, turning to Shuri. She smiled bigger now.

"Yes, healed a gunshot wound to his spinal cord. Works like a charm now." Shuri said smugly. Izebel just raised her eyebrows and her glass towards Shuri.

"Well aren't you special," She teased.

Bucky remained quiet the rest of that dinner after the announcement of Agent Ross, and Shuri and Izebel just returned to their conversation about Buzzfeed quizzes. Bucky walked her back to her room, just two over from where his room was.

Izebel just thought over the idea of Agent Ross coming over, and Bucky's response to the information. Izebel barely slept that night. Tossing and turning at the thoughts running through her head from that session. Bucky was frustrated. Obviously. But so was she. There had to be more that she could do to restore this broken man. After all, if Shuri could heal this Agent Ross guy… Izebel stopped breathing for a second. She shot out of bed and ran to her closet, changing even though it was 3 am in the morning.

How could she be such an idiot? The answer was literally all around her lab.

She ran downstairs to the laboratory, running past a sleepy Bucky returning from the kitchen and ignoring his questions about why she was up so late. Instead she ran straight to her lab, lights flicking on as she entered the room. She rummaged through her textbooks, piling up as much information that could help support her idea bouncing through her mind.

It was 7 hours later that Shuri showed up in the lab, and Izebel immediately ran over to her in a rush.

"You healed a man's spine right? With vibranium? How did you do that?" Izebel demanded. Shuri looked bewildered and honestly, somewhat tired. But she was a teenager after all.

"It's simple really," Shuri yawed disinterred in this conversation and hurrying to get away from the overly energetic doctor. "I get you are a doctor but what could you possibly get from me healing a spine… OH MY GOSH" Shuri's mouth dropped. "WHY DIDNT I THINK OF THIS?" Izebel grinned at the sudden alertness of the teenager. She pulled her over to the sketches of the electrotherapy unit in the red notebook on her chair.

"Because this isn't talking about healing spines it's about rewiring someone's brain cells to readjust and open up again. A spine is a spine and can be reprogrammed easily, but a brain... not so much. There is too much delicate information there that cannot be messed with." Izebel grinned and Shuri took off. She threw up on her hologram screen all the information on Everett K. Ross and his spinal cord injury. The two girls focused for hours on all the research and data Shuri had acquired regarding the virbanium's ability to work with the nervous system.

Bucky rolled in around 2pm with both girls nose deep in hologram tabs up in the air.

"It's not like you can just stick a bead in his head. We have to find another way to administer the vibranium to his brain." Izebel was twirling a loose curl around her ear while Shuri grabbed her space buns in frustration

"We need more trials. More info on neuro regeneration and stimulation." Shuri sighed.

"I'm sorry. But what exactly are you planning on doing to my head?" Bucky almost looked panicked when the girls finally looked up at him. He was wearing those robes again, the red and blue ones he often wore around the city. He even had a small canvas bag with a considerable amount of food stuffed into it. Shuri walked right over and snagged the bag from him.

"Save it, obviously. I will take this and Izebel and I will eat. You need to find something else to do today." Shuri ripped opened a bag of chips forcefully and turned back to her hologram.

Izebel just shrugged at Bucky. "I think we might be able to fix the block in your mind, even with the training, with the vibranium. I just haven't figured out exactly how. I promise I will see you at dinner tonight. Save me some food alright?"

"I always save you food," Bucky smiled. But Izebel just laughed at the lie and turned back to her work. Bucky left quietly, hopeful for once that maybe, just maybe, the two young girls might be able to take this programing out of his head for good.

Izebel ran her hair through her stray curls in frustration.

"I'm so PISSED. Maybe if I had my mentor's research in neuro-regeneration…. Oh my gosh…. My MENTOR!" Izebel all but screamed, causing several of Shuri's lab assistants to jump. Shuri slowed down on her snack, looking quizzically at the American.

"Your mentor? From your university?" Shuri asked. She had to say, that American professor seemed to be a little hippy dippy, and didn't know the first thing about neuroscience. He was just Izebel's advisor for medicinal plants and nothing more.

"No, my mentor from my medical practice. I don't think he practices anymore. Not since I started in my residency. But he was the one to suggest I look into holistic practices for mental health restoration. He came up with my thesis. Gosh! He would know something about this! I know he could help!" Izebel began to pace and she thought about where to find him. Dr. Steven Strange had fallen off the map after his accident, and Dr. Christine Palmer only mentioned that he showed up once to the hospital since taking off. Something about a stabbing and mystical doors. But if Izebel had to guess, she knew Dr. Parlmer would know where he was at these days.

"Is there a way we could go to New York City? Dr. Parlmer is there and she can help us." Shuri's eyebrows furrowed at the thought. And then a huge grin broke out over her face.

"You are telling me a girl who spent most of her life in New York City wants me to fly her there?" Shuri stood up, abandoning her snack and walking over to the Black Panther equipment. "Oh my gosh an intelligence mission! With you! This is going to be awesome! So I made a suit for you."

"You what?" Izebel exclaimed. Shuri was already walking into a back room, which Izebel now noticed was filled with what looked like endless designs of clothes and armor. Shuri smirked and grabbed Izebel's hand, dragging her further into the room.

"You didn't think I would design you a suit? You _are_ human. I know I know. Apparently you know how to shoot. You grew up in the south after all. So, I made you this." Shuri gestured to the outfit dressed on a mannequin the size and shape of her. But what confused her was the fact it was very much American clothes she was looking at. Skinny jeans, a black tight V-neck and a sturdy military looking jacket. Shuri started to adjust the clothes and open up the jacket.

"It's woven with vibranium so that if we get shot at it will not penetrate. And, my favorite feature" Shuri pressed a button within the coat lining and two pistols began to form. "They are designed to be like your pistols from America, but it's made of pure vibranium and its actually a sonic pulse that shoots out instead of wasting gun powder and making a loud noise."

Shuri handed the pistol to Izebel, who took it into her hands gingerly. It had been almost 6 months since she had picked up a weapon. The last time was around Christmas when her father took her to the shooting range.

"Is there somewhere I can practice with this?" Izebel inquired. Shuri just shrieked in excitement.

"Yes! Of Course! But after you try on the suit. I have other options as well," and with that, Shuri pulled a rack over with a multitude of designs of common American and Wakandan clothing for her to try on.

"You are way too excited about this. How long have you been making these?" Izebel asked. Shuri just shrugged and threw a grey tee shirt her way.

"Since the first time you did laundry here. I was able to access your clothes and have the seamstress here size you. We started designing from there. The tech however was in the last couple of weeks, when you told me about you and Barnes's confession of your true southern roots."

Izebel changed quickly into the grey shirt Shuri tossed her and the jeans that were on the mannequin. She even grabbed the military jacket and tossed that on too.

"We should probably leave for New York today. You will have rest and also enough time to be able to contact the people you need to and I can drop you off where you need to be. You have pack though. I'm sure my dear brother won't like the idea of our improv trip."

Shuri just began to put on her own clothes she pulled from the back of the closet and dragged Izebel back to their desk. Shuri grabbed several of the computer projections and Izebel grabbed several of the important notebooks and the backpack sitting by her desk she had just in case Bucky wanted to go on a longer walk than normal.

Shuri ran back into the closet and grabbed several more outfits and tossed them into the backpack as well. Shuri just nodded and they walked up to the elevator before going to the roof. Shuri picked the smallest aircraft and clambered in.

It was only two minutes after takeoff that T'Challa and Bucky's voice rang over the intercom.

"Sister, where do you think you and Dr. Anderson may be traveling to?" T'Challa asked amused.

"Izebel, why are you letting her drag you off to?" Bucky sounded slightly more annoyed than T'Challa causing her to roll her eyes.

"Bucky you aren't my keeper. Plus I'm making her go. I realized I needed to talk to my mentor. He has some information we need." Izebel explained lightly. Shuri laughed.

"Brother she is taking me to New York! How exciting. But I will be at the Wakandan outreach center while she goes to talk to her mentor."

"You know Shuri we need to talk to Tony to inform him you are on your way with her." Shuri just rolled her eyes.

"Yes brother. Consider him already contacted." And she disconnected the intercom before the two men could get more frustrated with their surprise road trip. "You should take this time to try and contact your friends. Maybe we could get this all set up before we go."

With that the two girls began making phone calls. Izebel to Dr. Palmer and eventually to Dr. Strange himself. He agreed he would pick her up right around the Wakandan outreach center. Shuri had changed the schedule around and set up some improv workshops up at the NYC location and also got approval from the US Customs and Boarders to just land on their center instead of going through a major airport.

"I didn't even know that was an option." Izebel laughed after Shuri got off the phone.

"Izebel when your brother is an honorary member of the Avengers, the US government does anything for you." Shuri laughed as well. Izebel just shook her head and walked to the front of the aircraft. She could see the ocean sparkling underneath them and took up a defensive pose.

"Scared of heights?" Shuri asked nonchalantly. Izebel just shook her head.

"Just weird to being going on like a special ops mission." Izebel shrugged. Shuri laughed.

"You were the one who needed the information. Plus, I think you are onto something here. Even I didn't think about doing something like that."

"I'm going to need your help on this." Izebel stated suddenly, causing Shuri's ever present smile to disappear.

"You care for him." Shuri stated.

"Of course I do. You should see how hurt he is all the time Shuri. I don't even think discussing it helps sometimes. And the books? Well man, that's a next level of torture they put him through." Izebel shuttered at the thought of what that red book contained.

"I will help in any way I can." Shuri promised. "Would you mind, sharing your thoughts about Sergeant Barnes though? You are the one person he is the closest with."

"I am. I don't know why. You would think he would be more guarded around me. The mad doctor tasked with investigating and restoring his brain."

"He trusts you because of who you are." Shuri stated simply. Izebel's eyes furrowed.

"I don't even know what you mean by that." Izebel dismissed Shuri's comment, and began to discuss what Bucky and her had been doing on all their walks. "It's mostly just simple conversations we have. I have read all of his journals, so I already know what he knows and made the calculations of how much he has actually remembered. It's probably less than 25% of his full lifetime. I think most people can really only recall about 75% of their whole lifetime. So we just talk about how he is doing with his diet, what he likes about his memories. Anything that might bother him about his Winter Soldier past. He has taken a liking to talking to a lot of the children, both in town and out to my sister's village. I think he likes their innocence."

"I know those boys that gave your that crystal wolf." Shuri laughed. A couple of weeks back Izebel returned to the lab with Bucky, dropping off a crystal wolf that the boys claimed she had to have because she was the "White Wolf's Keeper". Shuri found it so hysterical at the time she had cried because she was laughing so hard, and Bucky's blush at the time did nothing to help the giggles that came out of the teenager.

"That was so cute. I remember how red he got. I didn't know Bucky Barnes could get that embarrassed."

"It was adorable," Shuri agreed.

The two girls grew silent for a while, with Shuri checking their coordinates and estimated time of arrival, an Izebel checking her email to see if Dr. Strange had sent her any files she could look at now. She noticed some in her inbox when she decided to talk to Shuri again.

"I couldn't sleep last night you know." Izebel admitted. Shuri didn't look over, waiting for the next sentence to come out. "I just got so worried yesterday. He had is first panic attack with me. I got scared. I didn't know what would happen. That type of emotion could bring back instinctive behavior and I didn't know which instinct he would go on. Bucky calmed down though. And I couldn't help but feel bad, that I really hadn't done much except for act like a shrink for him. I came to heal, not to talk about feelings."

"He has grown a lot since you came here Izebel." Shuri stated, hoping it was what the girl wanted to hear. Izebel's concern didn't go down though. And the teenage shipping part of Shuri hoped it was because Izebel cared a bit _too much_ for the assassin.

"He deserved to be healed. I hope Dr. Strange has what we need." Izebel stated, shaking her emotions back and focusing on the task at hand. "And seriously? Guns? You think I'm going to need a gun today?"

Shuri laughed and just shrugged. Izebel finally got a nice nap in before they landed in New York.

"Here, this is how I can get in contact with you. If you need any help, just let me know. Say my name it and it will contact me right away." Shuri placed a sticker behind her ear. The two girls hugged briefly, and Izebel walked out of the plane, heading towards the exit of the center.

 _Here goes nothing._


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you everyone for taking the time to read and follow the story! I hope you are all enjoying it. Feel free to comment.**

"So, the real world treating you alright?" Dr. Strange asked Izebel. His new house, if Izebel wanted to call it that, was very museum like. They were seated in some velvet chairs and Dr. Strange was sporting a very different outfit than she was used to seeing. Izebel knew him in his scrubs or in his expensive suits. But now, he sported blue linen clothes with a red cape. The cape gave her the creeps because it seemed to move on her own.

"Real world is alright. I saw you sent all your research from your days from practicing medicine. Did you really give it up?" Izebel asked. She sipped her tea nervously as Dr. Strange gave her a strange look.

"There are more ways to save lives than practicing medicine. I had, what Christine would call, a spiritual awakening. Now I live here, helping guard some ancient practices." Dr. Strange explained simply. The cape seemed to twitch again, and Izebel glanced at it warily. Some of the other trinkets on the book shelf to their left also caught her eye. The books, from what she could tell, were not in any language she knew.

"Interesting. Well, I guess you could say I'm developing some new practices based on old traditional medicinal practices to heal a man." Izebel explained softly. Dr. Strange just looked at her with a coy smile.

"Mr. James Barnes. I know." Dr. Strange smiled lightly. Izebel felt her face blush deep red and her mouth drop open slightly. Dr. Strange, when training her, always seemed to know her deep dark secrets. But now, this way knew that he could know about the fugatives she was working with. Collecting herself, Izebel took a sip of her tea before beginning again.

"Stark I guess informed a specific party holding Bucky that I would be a good fit to help. Thanks to Project Insight all those years ago they had my file. We think, well my colleague and I, believe that we can promote neuron channel interaction within the brain again using vibranium. I wanted your notes and honestly your professional opinion to see if you thought this was possible." Dr. Strange smiled coyly at this plan.

"You know you were the first person I wanted to contact when I went to Tibet to find the Ancient One. You always believed in the spiritual realm of healing." Izebel was confused about the sudden backstory but accepted it none the less. Maybe it would explain his sudden change in attire. " I learned a lot while I was there. So much. But the most important thing I learned was healing doesn't always come completely in the conventional sense us Westerners seem to believe."

"I don't think we will ever truly understand the healing process humans can do naturally." Izebel quietly agreed.

"I want to show you something." Dr. Strange suddenly got up and began to... float? Izebel's eyes furrowed but followed the man deeper into the house. Down corridors and ancient artifacts.

"What is with your cloak Dr. Strange?" Izebel questioned. At the mention of the cloak, Dr. Strange turned sharply towards her with the cloak stretching out towards her hand. He was floating, Izebel realized, and it was probably due to that cloak floating towards her hand.

"Cloak of levitation." Dr. Strange stated. The cloak shook her hand, as if to introduce itself, and Izebel's eyebrows raised at the gesture.

"Yeah, levitation. I can see that. Dr. Strange, what is going on? I thought you are a consult now. Why does your cloak levitate?" Izebel began to word vomit. The cloak stroked her hand reassuringly, which caused Izebel to yank it back to her side.

"Izebel, this is what I wish to show you." And with that a door opened wide and a golden translucent veil appeared, showing a stone room with an metal eye at the center pillar.

Dr. Strange just walked through the veil, and Izebel quickly followed.

"Hello Wong, I am coming with my visitor." Dr. Strange announced into the empty room. Suddenly an Asian man appeared, causing Izebel to jump slightly.

"Please to meet you Izebel," the man, Wong, stated. He continued looking through what seemed to be a library.

"So you collect artifact books? That's why you are a consultant?" Izebel questioned, trying to make sense of what was occurring. Wong snickered at the question, but provided no answer. Instead Wong kept his back towards her and continued to stack and organize the worn books. Dr. Strange made a so-so motion with his hands and continued on through the library, ended up at a window. Izebel looked out and saw a mountain landscape at night.

"Where are we?" Her stomach dropped. This wasn't a painting, because the light breeze from the window was tugging some of the softer curls back. Dr. Strange just continued to stare at the girl, gauging her reactions to all of this. Izebel was always strong, but even he had a hard time grasping what exactly the mystic forces were when he first started out.

"Well, we are where I started my journey. I can't properly help you until you know what has happened to me in the past year. I found healing. But through the ancient craft of sorcery."

Izebel's eyebrows shot further up her forehead, and she shoved her hands in her pockets, feeling for the guns Shuri made for her. Something didn't feel right. Dr. Strange noticed the motion, but she kept her grip tight.

"How do I know you are telling the truth?" Izebel watched Dr. Strange's face for a guilt. But his face remained cautious, looking to her hidden hands.

"Because if I didn't practice sorcery, how in the world would I know you were working with Mr. Barnes?" Dr. Strange asked simply. He did have a point there. Her stomached dropped at the statement. What if…

"Who are you working for?" Izebel asked darkly, gripping onto the vibranium weapon, pointing the weapon to him, while pulling the other one and aiming towards Wong who hadn't moved from his pile of books. "I gave you no information regarding Mr. Barnes mental health but yet you seem to know I am working with him. How?"

"I am working for no one." Dr. Strange's put his hands up in a surrender gesture, trying to ease the anxiety clearly rolling off of Izebel. Her face darkened and she glared at her mentor. "I protect Earth with the other sorcerers from mystical threats from multiple dimensions. We have a watch list. The Winter Solder was a potential threat, very low on the list, but then you showed up on that list to. I took it upon myself to investigate, and I knew you would come to me soon for aid. I promise Izebel, I am trying to help you and him."

It was then she noticed the cape, which clearly had a mind of its own, leave Dr. Strange's neck and also pulling up the corners of its collar in a similar surrender gesture. Izebel lowered her weapons at that movement, but maintaining the grip just in case.

"What do you know then?" Izebel demanded, and Dr. Strange smirked. Izebel had always been the youngest and sweetest in any room. But here, he could even see Wong tense at the intensity this young woman was putting off. It almost made Dr. Strange proud to see how much Izebel had grown in confidence since his disappearance from the medical community.

"I know you need to look at this problem from a different angle or else you won't be able to help anyone. You have always been a little too stuck in your own head." Dr. Strange laughed. "That's why you never beat me during the challenge rounds of song trivia.

"That is not why! You have a better photographic memory than I do." Izebel grumbled, her intimidating presence dropping. Dr. Strange was still Dr. Strange. She could tell now. The vibranium weapons melted back into her pockets, and Dr. Strange just watched the vibranium in mild interest.

"Well photograph this into your memory," and with that Dr. Strange drew a circle into the air, causing little gold flames to lick the area he drew. In the circle appeared what seemed to be the exact chairs they had left two minutes ago. Dr. Strange walked into the circle, grabbing Izebel's hands and dragging her through. They sat back down, and Izebel grabbed the almost forgotten tea and let Dr. Strange have the floor. He went through a thorough background of his training, the woman called the Ancient One, and how he has experienced and fought off threats from multiple dimensions and galaxies.

"So wait, back up. These relics can _choose you?_ So like this cloak is now your friend and personal side kick?" She asked. The cloak waved at her again when she mentioned it, and giggled slightly at the motion.

"Essentially yes," he smirked. Izebel just nodded, and waved back at the cloak. "But, that's enough background. Want my advice?"

"That is what I came here for Dr. Strange," Izebel laughed. He smiled and leaned back into his chair.

"You are focusing too much on what you are trying to restore and break down. You need to make something new." Izebel waited for more, but Dr. Strange just sipped his tea. She shook her head softly, as if to continue, but he waived his hand in annoyance.

"Do you remember the first time I met you?" Dr. Strange asked. Izebel smiled at the memory.

It was almost 10 years ago now. Dr. Strange was just starting to perfect the Strange Method with Dr. Palmer and Izebel had just begun medical school rounds in the ER. It was only her second year, but they were trying to expose her to this stuff before she started some of her PhD research classes. Dr. Strange came barreling in, while all the medial students from Colombia University were huddled in the corner, trying to watch Dr. Palmer keep a SUV crash victim alive. Dr. Strange was so arrogant, and less grey than he is now. And the tech immediately pulled up a Spotify playlist and began to quiz Dr. Strange on the years each one of these songs were released.

"Oh come on John, you promised if I came in here to assist Dr. Palmer you would actually provide a challenge for me today." Dr. Strange was sawing his way into the woman's bruised skull. He immediately removed the bone and began to work on stopping a bleed at the crown of the victims head.

The man John switched the song to a classic church hymn Izebel knew for a fact was released in 1872. She kept her mouth shut as Dr. Strange began to shout out years and argue with John what the actual year of release was.

"John, finally giving me a hard one. I think it was 1869. Old church hymns are tricky because they often sound so similar. Hey you," Suddenly Dr. Strange was looking directly at her. Izebel was somehow in front of all her classmates. He looked right at her, which Izebel could only assume the bleeding was under control for now.

"You look quite young. Do you think you could guess the year? Agree that its 1869?" He asked. His blue eyes intimidated her, but she stepped forward and shrugged.

"Actually, the hymn is Dear Lord and Father of mankind and was released in 1872." Izebel managed to squeak out. She wasn't use to being called out except for being asked if she was in the right classroom. Dr. Strange didn't seem to care about that though. He was mostly up for a challenge.

"John?" He called over to the man at the computer. He managed to just give a thumbs up and Dr. Strange's eyes crinkled with a grin. "I'm impressed. Your name?"

"Izebel Anderson." Izebel responded lightly.

"Well Izebel Anderson, come over here and let's look at this beautiful hemorrhage together shall we? John might even be able to pull up some more hymns for you to be challenged with."

"That's all I have. Look, see my hands?" Izebel snapped out of the memory, and looked closely at the now red and exposed hands. Previously hidden by the cloth wrapped around his fingers, Izebel finally could see the extreme damage that occurred to the man who was her mentor. The lines were dark pink, but obviously well done for the medical practices available in New York. Izebel grabbed his hands, and just noticed the slight tremor in his fingers. Her heartstrings pulled, knowing just how difficult this process must have been just to get to a small tremor.

"I can't practice anymore. They found me way passed the golden hour to restore full nervous function. But I found new ways to still save lives. Bucky may never regain his memories. We can't assume that the vibranium will be the key to recircuiting his brain. And you might never be able to undo the brainwashing embedded into his very soul when some simple words are spoken in Russian." He took away his hands from Izebel's grasp, and grabbed a relic from the top of the bookshelf. Dr. Strange placed it in her hands, and let the cool glass settle in her palm. "But… you could always make a new pathway in his head, something to fight against that instinct, or cover it up completely. Read my notes to get more information about the regeneration process. And maybe learn some Russian yourself."

With the final joke about not rushing into learning a language, Izebel examined the cool piece of glass within her hands. It glowed, just as the portal glowed when Dr. Strange dragged her from Wong's library back to Greenwich.

"This is a portal. If you need to bounce more ideas off of me, it should bring you straight here and back to where you came from. And it will let me know when to expect you." Dr. Strange smiled.

"You know, you were always a good mentor. Terrible at hymn dates, but always a good mentor." Izebel said thickly. And it was true. Dr. Strange took her under his wing all those years ago, helping her understand complex nervous systems in order to best produce a thesis for her PhD. But now, he felt like a friend and not a mentor.

"You are going to start teaching me things soon." Dr. Strange said simply.

"Glad to hear I will finally have knowledge over you." Izebel laughed, and Dr. Strange grinned wide.

"Plus, now that you have this, you can get your answers a lot quicker and without a plane flight. Although I'm sure Shuri loves coming to America."

Izebel didn't even question how Dr. Strange knew she traveled with Shuri, but smiled and stood up to leave. He walked her to the door, and gave her a big hug.

"Magic powers make you a hugger now?" Izebel joked. Dr. Strange just grabbed her shoulders and looked at her.

"No, I'm just proud and humble remember?" He laughed. The smile making the grey littered in his beard more obviously. The man had aged for sure since Izebel last saw him. But Dr. Strange looked more at peace than she could ever remember.

Instead of opening the door, Dr. Strange made another circle in air, and this time, the portal revealed the inside of the ship Shuri was sitting in. "I will probably see you soon. Feel free to drop by whenever. Even bring Bucky."

Izebel beamed, gave his trembling hands one more squeeze and then walked through the portal. Shuri had her headphones in, unaware that Izebel was standing behind her, and the disappearing portal that she walked through. Izebel jumped in front of her line of vision, causing the teenager to jump.

"That is not funny! And when did you get back. I saw you were in Greenwich like two minutes ago?" Shuri exclaimed. Izebel just laughed, but didn't provide an explanation. Instead, Izebel just sat in the passenger seat, and got comfortable.

"Dr. Strange was a little bit more helpful than I thought. Specifically in the area of being able to travel." She picked up her phone, and began to project all the notes and files Dr. Strange had emailed to her hours before. Shuri took her headphones out and began to flick through the notes as well.

"He wasn't confident Bucky could be fully restored, but knew he could be healed." Izebel explained softly. It was almost like admitting defeat. The whole purpose of trying to find a cure for Bucky's condition was to restore him to the man he was before HYDRA molded and tortured him into the perfect assassin.

Shuri just shrugged at the comment. Before getting to invested, Shuri flipped a couple of switches and the aircraft launched quickly into the air. It only took a minute for the flight path to stabilize and Shuri returned to the notes.

"So what is the plan Dr. Anderson?" Shuri asked. Izebel took a deep breath. The notes were extensive and elaborate, just as Dr. Strange was in his surgical skills.

"I think, we need to come up with two plans. I'm going to need a lot of time to sift through this information though, and I don't know how much help I'm going to need." Izebel admitted. She pulled up her dark curls into a bun, and looked expectantly at Shuri.

"What do you need?" Shuri asked. She was flipping through some MRI images, not really examining anything too closely.

"I know I'm going to need actual information and visuals of the Siberian location, to start with." Shuri didn't even flinch at the notion, which made Izebel suspect that the Wakandans had something to do with that coverup about the location of HYDRA's super soldier freezer.

"I'm also going to need to learn Russian a lot better." Shuri laughed at that one, but continued to flip through the files aimlessly. Izebel shrunk further into the plus chair next to Shuri.

"I'm probably also going to need some time away from working with Bucky one on one. Don't let him do anything stupid." The softness of the request pulled Shuri from her mindless flicking to look at Izebel. Izebel held her gaze. Shuri's face dropped in a frown, but nodded.

"Of course Izebel. I can easily make that happen." The teenager's hand clasped Izebel's, and the doctor squeezed.

And space Shuri gave Izebel. For the next month, Izebel was holed up in either her room, her office or walking around with a huge notebook, jotting down ideas that would pop into her head. And much like how Bucky's first wonderings around the Wakandan city gave him the name White Wolf, Bucky caught wind that Izebel had gained an animal code name from the children in the town.

It wasn't until she missed the third Sunday in a row with her sister than Bucky decided to intervene. He caught her first thing in the morning, rushing to get into the kitchen for breakfast, handy notebook already opened.

"You know there is a world outside that book." Izebel jumped, dropping the notebook and pen in reaction to the sudden voice that pulled her from the thoughts. She saw the swift movement of Bucky below her, collecting her belongings. He stood up to full height, about 4 inches away from her face. Izebel could feel the warmth on her face, whether from the close proximity or the palpitations from the scare she wasn't sure.

"Thank you," She muttered, tucking her hair behind her ear nervously. Bucky watched the movement and then really gave her a look. Izebel's face flushed harder at the stare.

"Do you know what day of the week it is?" Bucky asked softly. Izebel shook her head. "It's Sunday. It's now four weeks since you last saw your sister. Are you alright Izebel?"

"I just have a lot of ideas I'm sorting through right now," she mumbled. Izebel tried to side step Bucky, but he moved to his left, effectively blocking her from escaping his stare.

"You need to take a break. Or, if you aren't going to take a break, you need to calm your thoughts. You don't know what day it is and you are spiraling into your own head." He noticed the flush on her cheeks deepening in their color red.

"I know. I know" Izebel said gruffly. She knew she wasn't paying attention to anything except the problem in front of her. Literally. Bucky's problem was a lot more complicated than she realized, and would sneak away at night to New York to discuss the problem at length with Dr. Strange. The obsession was real, and it was probably getting out of hand.

"I'm taking you today." There was no room for argument in his tone of voice, causing Izebel's head to snap up and glare at him.

"You don't think you just expect me to just stop everything I'm doing for you do you?" Bucky just raised an eyebrow at her sudden anger, but chucked anyways.

"Yeah, I do. Plus, you never asked me psychiatrically how I was after Agent Ross came here and I know that was eating you up when you were on your way to New York." Izebel just looked away, annoyed.

"Yeah I was worried. But you were fine and I had-"

"Other things to worry about. Well your sister and I are worried about you. So I'm taking you today. We don't need this." He took the notebook still in his hands, chucked it into his room and shut the door before Izebel could protest. Bucky grabbed her elbow lightly and steered her towards the elevator.

"Where are you taking me?" Izebel asked. Bucky just smiled but didn't answer. It didn't take long to figure out where though. They ended up at their usual spot on the lake, Bucky talking about everything that she had missed while closed off from the world. He talked about the nice conversation he had with Agent Ross regarding the CIA's investigation and coverup of the Fridge base Bucky spent most of his time in. He also talked about his new training he did with T'Challa in the mornings and his hope to start working with Nakita and Okoye soon with the raids they had been planning for months on the child soldier handlers. Izebel raised her eyebrows at that confession, but let Bucky continue.

It was probably the longest Bucky talked without prompts from Izebel, and she could help but smile at that observation. Bucky was lighthearted explaining everything. And he even had goals for the future. It was normal, Izebel realized. Just your average man talking about his job and his life goals. While the job and goals were not normal, Izebel was glad Bucky was moving on from the horrors they would previously talk about.

"I also talked to Agent Ross about you." Bucky admitted. Izebel turned to look at Bucky. He was already staring at her, taking in her reaction. He seemed… content.

"What about?" Izebel questioned. Bucky smiled.

"I got you and I clearance to go up to the Fridge. Might finally be able to pull your nose out of that notebook long enough for you to actually hold a conversation with me."

She was shocked. The Fridge. Izebel had mentioned to Shuri she had an interest in going there for research purposes, but she didn't think they would actually be able to go. Izebel stood up off the ground and began to pace excitedly.

"Wait like seriously? We are going to go to the Fridge? Oh my gosh I didn't think that would actually happen. Wow!" Bucky had noticed after a lot of their time together Izebel would ramble whenever she was excited or onto something. He found it endearing, like the soft half smiles Bucky and Steve would exchange after one saved the other.

"You shouldn't be this excited to go see a HYDRA base. Normal people aren't." Bucky laughed. Izebel just whipped around back at him, hair flying everywhere, and smiled.

"I'm not normal." She grinned, but continued to pace for a bit.

"Oh my gosh. Do they still have all your files and such? Maybe I could get Shuri to give me one of the scanning processors so we can bring it back and not have to spend so much time there digging through stuff." Izebel continued to ramble off ideas, and Bucky just nodded his head and agree with her.

"Shuri and T'Challa said I could take a jet out tonight if you wanted. We could spend about a week up there, making sure we combed through everything on site. CIA and Wakandan spies have been securing the location, but not really messing with the files themselves. Apparently Stark didn't want people to mess with it."

"Wait… tonight? A week? You really think we might need that long?" Bucky only shrugged at the questions.

"Better take the time and really make sure we got everything we need."

"You are right. So, we are going on a mission?" Izebel said excitedly. Bucky just laughed at the question.

"Well, I guess so. Better get Shuri all excited about it. Apparently she is making you suits now?"

"Gosh that girl doesn't know when to STOP when it comes to vibranium technology. She changed out my whole wardrobe! And gave me guns! What next, a shield like you and Cap?"

"I don't know Izebel. She has a suit made for me too. Hopefully Shuri doesn't forget its freezing up there. We are going to need some thick clothes."

A real mission. Izebel couldn't wait.


	7. Chapter 7

It also was eerily quiet for Izebel. Bucky had left her to go and move the jet into the Fridge facility after giving her a general tour of the place. He had only been gone about 10 minutes, but she heard the steady whirring of the vibranium engines several minutes prior. Occasionally the wind would pick up and echo through the concrete facility, causing Izebel to jump and scan the large room quickly. She had her hand close to her weapons, thankful that Shuri didn't forget to put them into her new thick winter jacket. In fact, Shuri had done an amazing job getting some thick clothing for her before this trip. Izebel would have to thank her when they made contact again.

While waiting for Bucky, Izebel was taking in the largest room of the facility, the cryochamber and electroshock therapy room. 6 chambers, now empty, surrounded the electroshock chair. Looking at it, she could see blood stains still around each one of the chambers and chair. It made her sick to look at it. Instead, she tried to focus on the wires. There were intricate, strong, and looked somewhat complex. But if Izebel could just find the blueprints, she should be able to see what exactly Bucky went through to suppress the memories of James Buchannan Barnes.

Bucky thought it would be funny to come up behind her after leaving her to move the jet into the facility instead of leaving it exposed to the tundra weather. When he was returning, he noticed her standing in between all the cryochambers, examining the wiring that connected to the headset. Smirking he snuck up a bit closer, and switched to the native tongue of the Winter Soldier easily. If she wasn't so lost in thought, she would have heard the footsteps behind her.

" _Would you like a seat in the chair of honor?_ " Bucky spoke in Russian. Before he could even finish he dove out of the way, laughing. Izebel had turned and pointed her gun straight at his head.

"What the HELL is your problem? You do realize I could have blown your head off right?" Izebel screamed, clutching her chest and lowering the weapon. Bucky just laughed loud, echoing in the open chamber.

"I highly doubt you could have done that doll. You gotta be more aware of your surroundings. I called your name twice." Izebel blushed a the pet name, stored the weapon away and went back to examining the wires. Bucky joined her a second later, containing his chuckles, and finally facing the chair that he hated with every fiber of his being.

"So… this is it?" Izebel said thickly. Bucky felt her eyes on him, and he just nodded. He could see the blood stains too, knowing for a fact they were both his and the agents he took down before getting strapped into the machine.

"Oh Buck," Bucky heard her gasp. It was at that small exclamation that he felt the pressure of her hand on his metal one. She squeezed tightly as he interlocked their fingers, and breathed deeply.

"They normally would beat me until I got into the chair. I fought it, as you can see." Bucky trailed. Izebel glanced at the blood specs on the floor again, shuddering. She squeezed his hand tighter, as if to pass some sort of comfort to him as he faced his past.

"This wasn't the first location this happened though." Bucky admitted. Izebel looked over at him, interested in the sudden backstory he was delving in.

"When I first got captured, I was just at a POW camp. I got sick. Pneumonia they said. Eventually the HYDRA agents took me to an isolation ward. I thought I was going to die, then Zola came in and began the experimentations. That's where the first electroshock happened. Not nearly as sophisticated as this one." He grew silent for a moment, a solemn expression over his face.

Izebel just squeezed his hand, unsure of what else to do. Her brain racked around with different things to say. _I'm sorry… You are okay now… I can rip this thing apart but I need to know how it works…_

"Steve saved me from the full shock. I heard them talking about it, but I was still getting pumped with whatever serum they used on me."

"You have a good friend Bucky." Izebel said. Bucky nodded his head in agreement.

"He is the best. 'Til the end of the line." Bucky sighed, and removed his hand from Izebel's. Immediately Izebel clasped her own hands together, glaring at the machine in front of them.

"If you get me to the paperwork, I could tear this thing apart and you would never have to worry about it again." Izebel firmly stated. Bucky just laughed at the tenacity of the small girl, but didn't accept or deny the offer.

"Come on, we gotta get you to that storage room anyways. Its back here. I remember from when Tony, Steve and I were last here." Izebel raised her eyes at that comment, but didn't ask. The Avengers were always a hot topic, and the 'Civil War' between the two caused a lot of controversy when she lived in New York.

The room itself was huge. Boxes upon boxes were stacked to the incredibly high ceiling. Izebel gasped.

"This is all on you?" Bucky just shrugged. Izebel could feel her eyes widened.

"Better get to work." Bucky laughed, pulling out the hand held scanner Shuri made for them, and pulled out a box.

Bucky ended up being right. They did need at least a week to get all that they needed done at the Fridge. All the necessary documents and videos stored in the underground unit on Bucky and the whole Winter Soldier program HYDRA created were carefully organized into the online database Shuri and Izebel had set up before leaving.

Around half way through the week, Izebel opened the box with all the blueprints and models of the electroshock chair. Her eyes widened at the mechanical plans, and rushed out before she could even explain to Bucky what she was doing. He didn't have to follow too closely, the girl made such a racket pulling out two more boxes, dumping them in front of the chair, and then rummaging through one of the back closets, finding and dragging as many tool boxes as she could to the front of the chair.

It was in the chair Bucky found her 2 days later. He took over the storage process while Izebel had made camp around the electroshock machine. All the boxes were ripped apart and files upon files were left open, surrounding the whole machine. Much to Izebel's comforting nature, she had set up all their quilts and pillows in that area, making herself comfortable while studying the machine that unmade him. Somehow she had even produced a speaker, and began to play soft music to provide some background in the empty facility.

"Hey," Bucky said softly, not wanting to startle her. Izebel looked up, taking the wrench out of her mouth, and raising her eyebrows in question. She was comfortable, Bucky noticed. Shuri had given her some thick jean overalls and flannel long sleeves for this trip. Izebel had braided her hair tightly, but stray curls were still poking out of the plaids.

"Yeah Buck? What's up?" Izebel began to climb down the ladder she was perched on to try and look at the wiring on the top of the machine. Bucky walked over to the ladder and lent her a hand, taking some of the tools from her.

"I'm just checking in. It's been about 6 hours since I started in the file room. I have 6 more boxes left and then we can leave." Izebel looked at him. He was wearing his hair in a bun again. She frowned. Leave?

"You really are almost done?" She wiped some grease off her hands, pushed a stray curl back and looked up at Bucky. Shuri had given him bundles of clothing, but he quickly stripped off most of the layers and took to wandering around the facility in nothing but boots, cargo pants and a white beater shirt. Guess the cold didn't bother him at all.

"I mean yeah. It's been almost a week. You even have a camp site here Izebel." Bucky gestured towards the piles of blankets, pillows and sleeping bags Izebel had scattered across the floor. She just shrugged, and moved past Bucky to the desk she had set up. Placing the tools down, and reviewing the blueprints one more time, she sighed even louder, causing Bucky to roll his eyes.

"You knew you weren't going to figure out every piece of that machine within 3 days. We can always come back if you have an itch to rip it apart more." Teasing. James Buchannan Barnes was teasing her. Granted, he had started doing that every time she sneezed because of the dust flying in her face. It wasn't her fault that she didn't have a super nose that didn't seem to be affected by the dust that accumulated on the cardboard.

"You know I could just get antsy one day and decide to rip apart your arm. I'm sure Shuri would give me the blueprints." Izebel teased. Bucky's arm seemed to whir in disagreement, but the man himself laughed.

"I can see now how you got into repairing cars and trucks." Izebel just shrugged at the comment.

"I can bring the speaker into the back room so we can just plow through the rest of it. What do you think? 2 hours at most?"

"Should be," He shrugged, and pulled out the extra scanner from his deep pockets. Izebel grabbed it and headed over to the other room.

Bucky was right. It was maybe 6 boxes, and the scanners had no problem finishing up the project and sending it off to Shuri. The last boxes weren't too interesting, just more numbers and datasets from the failed attempts to create the super soldier serum.

"Bucky," Izebel called out. He just grunted in response, and flipped over a piece of paper. "You don't remember any song do you while you were under."

"No." _Well someone wasn't in the mood for conversing_ , Izebel thought. She huffed and tried again.

"Well, I wouldn't expect you to." She said honestly, not looking at him. Izebel heard the rustle of paper stop, and she knew he had his attention.

"What do you mean you didn't expect me to?" The curiosity was evident in his voice. Izebel smiled. After reading some of his training and electroshock treatments files while at the Fridge, she realized how smart HYDRA actually was when it came to molding their asset.

"If I was HYDRA, I wouldn't want you to have anything anchoring yourself to the outside world. So when you went on missions, it was purposefully quiet, covert, and you had the least amount of exposure to popular culture should you realize you were making huge jumps in time." Izebel had been thinking about this for a while. Shuri had mentioned they tried to figure out what music he liked before he went under, but he only knew of the brassy orchestra music from the early 20thcentury.

Bucky hummed in thought. But didn't add anything to the conversation.

"And…." Izebel continued, now excited about telling him all her theories. "They wouldn't want to play any music you may recognize for the fact that music has been known to trigger memories. Much like scents and tastes. It's probably why they had you on such a strict diet and mostly gave you nutrition through an IV. And why your mask covered your nose."

"Interesting theories. Why you trying to get into HYDRA's head about this?" Bucky almost seemed panicked for a second.

"Oh, I'm not going to go all handler on you. I'm just trying to figure out what I can do to help trigger memories. But they helped suppress that. Also, I think that's why the majority of your shocks went into the left side of your skull. Logic and Reasoning is supposedly housed there, so you would have all that mushed up, and only follow the logic and reasoning of your trainer, not from Bucky circa 1940."

It was quiet for a while after that observation Izebel stated. She let him think, observing the numbers a little more closely as the blue light highlighted the final pages. As she began to shut down the machine and place the paper back into the box, she heard Bucky clear his throat.

"You know, it's kind of scary how well you can read into HYDRA's program with only a tiny bit of information." Izebel laughed. That wasn't what she was expecting Bucky to say.

"What, a 5 foot 4 girl is suddenly intimidating to you?"

"Yes." The serious tone was thick, causing Izebel to gulp. It was daunting.

"Well, you don't need to be intimidated. It's still just me." She said lightly, trying to brighten the mood.

"Iz, your intelligence is striking and can unravel people with a minimum amount of information. I guarantee you will probably have me healed within a couple of days of returning to Wakanda. I'm just glad that you are on my side, and not the other side." His voice was soft, honest. Looking into his eyes, Izebel saw the softness of the blue. Vulnerability.

"I wouldn't want to be on anyone's side but yours." Bucky smiled faintly at the sentiment, and stood up, reaching out a hand to her. She grabbed it and was tugged up into a standing position. "All done then I guess"

"Yeah, just gotta clean up your mess and then we can get back to Wakanda. Maybe even have dinner with your sister tonight." Bucky shrugged nonchalantly, but Izebel squealed at the thought.

"I haven't seen my sister in forever!"

"Yeah and who's fault is that?" Bucky scolded. Izebel waved him off and gathered some of the tools up, dumping them into a tool bag she produced. Clean up didn't take long, seeing as though they really didn't come with much to begin with. That and Izebel just insisted on throwing all the pillows onto the jet's floor, ignoring Bucky's comments about her being lazy.

"Can I play DJ still?" Izebel asked, finally putting all the pillows into a cabinet after Bucky complained for the 10thtime about her laziness. Bucky just nodded, strapping into the pilot chair and checking the engine status.

Izebel began with the song she left off, bobbing her head somewhat to the beat. There was a soft guitar in the background of the strong female lead, and Izebel smiled at the familiarity of the song.

"Well you have no beat." Bucky snorted. Izebel just waved him off and started humming along to the song. "What is this song anyways? You have played it probably 10 times since getting to the Fridge."

"Reckless Love." Izebel answered. "It's a song they would play at my church. Came out a year or so ago. Rocked the hipster Christian scene for a while before hitting the elderly population my dad pastors."

"This is a religious song? There is no organ… Or Latin." Bucky chuckled.

"In the south it isn't all Roman Catholics Buck. We have other more eclectic tastes in music. Both are good." Izebel shrugged. The white below the plane was quickly becoming greens as Eastern Europe started to pass underneath. She stole a glance at Bucky, examining his facial reactions to the conversation of religion. They hadn't discussed it much except for in the context of her sister and father. Izebel had read that Bucky and Steve were both reported to be Catholics according to their files, but that could mean anything. Most people up north identified as that religion, but didn't actually practice it. But Bucky was from the 1940's. And clearly he did realize what Catholic hymns were, if he could remember it being mostly in Latin.

"I think I like this better than what the nuns would sing." Bucky commented quietly. Izebel smiled at him.

"Remembering some things?"

"Oh get that smug look off your face. Church was what your parents forced you to go to back then. That's all you had besides the depression." Izebel just shrugged, but smirked to herself none the less. She knew this could bring up some of his past. Shuri was right, per usual. "So this is your favorite? The song is a lot nicer about God than what I remember the Priests explaining."

"I guess it's what I choose to believe about God. Especially with the idea of super heroes and villains now a days." Izebel spoke softly. She glanced down at her nails when she noticed Bucky turning on the autopilot and swiveling his chair over to face her. "It's just, I have a hard time believing if God would create and sacrifice his only son for all of man-kind, he wouldn't find other crazy ways to save people too. At least, that's what I tell myself as I research different ways to cure people of their mental illnesses. If God placed this person or this material into our lives, then it worth it to save someone. Like the song says, God is reckless when it comes to His love and devotion to us."

Bucky was quiet for a while. Probably contemplating her confession of faith. Izebel didn't really know what came over her to even open that part of her up. She really only talked to her sister about faith matters. But, it might be good for him. To believe that someone or something was watching Bucky the whole time, waiting for the moment to swoop in and make something great out of the machine they tried to create him to be.

"I like that. Reminds me of something Steve would say about fate and plans of God." Bucky admitted. Izebel raised her eyebrow at him, but Bucky said no more on the topic.

Christianity was dropped as a conversation topic and Izebel was glad. Normally it could get really deep really quick, even going as far as to question her life choices as a doctor. Religious people could be mean, and she was glad for Bucky's quiet acceptance.

The trip took only a couple of hours, which Izebel ended up sleeping for the majority of. And instead of seeing her sister like Bucky wanted to, both parties got whisked away immediately by T'Challa and Shuri to work on different projects. Izebel watched Bucky get pulled into a conference room with M'Baku, Okoye and Agent Ross waiting for them, while Shuri began rambling about an algorithm she created.

"So, I made an algorithm, based on what you were saying about the electroshock chair's design. It determines where you should hit the vibranium with your cranial sacral therapy depending on the hippocampus and amygdala regions their programing targeted." Izebel raised her eyebrows, examining the long computer programing codes flashing across a hologram, and the brain area corresponding to it on a different screen.

"That's brilliant." Izebel gasped. Shuri just nodded in excitement and the two ladies got to work quickly.

Upstairs though, Bucky was in a heated argument with T'Challa.

"I thought we were waiting until AFTER I had some major brain changes to send me out. What the heck could you possibly need me for?" M'Baku just snorted at the outburst from the former HYDRA assassin, but remained slumped in the chair, unbothered by the apparent air of urgency in the room. Agent Ross just signed and rubbed his head for the 13thtime in the past 7 minutes. Okoye just muttered something about men under her breath, and shifted her spear from one hand to the other.

"Listen, anything that I get a hit on the CIA's side regarding vibranium it runs through T'Challa alright? It's his call." Agent Ross looked expectantly at T'Challa, trying to gain some sort of understanding as to why the Winter Soldier would be needed for a mission like this.

"A potential alliance between vibranium smugglers and former HYDRA agents requires someone who knows their patterns to stake out their base for a couple of hours and report back. No hand to hand combat. Okoye agreed that you being part of the operation would be beneficial."

"And why is M'Baku here?" Bucky asked, pointing at the man still casually sitting in his chair. The man laughed a deep baritone laugh, and shrugged his shoulders.

"It was on my tribe's land where the two parties were spotted. I came to report to T'Challa but Agent Ross was already here."

Bucky could feel his muscles tighten in his jaw. Izebel would probably kill him for even considering going on a mission. She wanted him to make his own decisions about being in this line of business after they had fixed his head. And besides, Bucky wasn't about to try and risk a whole operation with an organization that could potentially have other files about his trigger words.

"I shouldn't be on the ground in case someone decides to use trigger words with me."

T'Challa grinned and grabbed his shoulder comfortingly. Bucky just grimaced, but said nothing more as the leaders of this mission set up protocol.


	8. Chapter 8

**So I saw Infinity Wars. I won't spoil anything but it will change the end of my story plot line (WAY DOWN THE ROAD). It also should set up this story line of Izebel and Bucky nicely for a sequel. But because of this, I want to address the timeline of where Bucky's treatment is in relation to the start of Infinity Wars. The Infinity Wars should be about a year and a half after Izebel starts working with Bucky. Trust me, it works for the eventual plot line. The goal is to keep with the MCU timeline and plot line instead of an AU. Obviously there are some minor inconsistencies from the MCU Infinity Wars, but nothing major. That being said, enjoy the chapter! And thank you to everyone who has been commenting and following the story. It means a lot.**

* * *

Shuri's calculations were done after two days, and Izebel had begun to practice using the vibranium kimoyo beads on anyone she could get her hands on in the lab. So far it had only produced some previously suppressed childhood memories, but Shuri was convinced that this was the answer and Bucky would be a brand new person come the end of the week. The current plan required Izebel using the vibranium kimoyo beads around Bucky's head with an adapted cranial sacral therapy method from Izebel's medical training. Izebel should be able guide the bead's medicinal properties to open each of the cells to be opened back through the movements along his skull. It was a little bit more intimate and relaxing than being strapped to a chair, which was Shuri's first plan before Izebel had arrived.

"Thank you for the help Ginika. That will be all" Izebel moved the kimoyo balls from the woman's temple and gave her a slight smile. Izebel had caught a movement of blue out of the corner of her eye.

"You know for a former assassin you don't really sneak up well on people." Izebel was readjusting the beads on her wrist when she heard the laugh and finally looked up. Bucky's hair was in a bun today, and he was in blue cargo pants and a tight white long sleeve shirt. Izebel felt her eyes darting down to the white, but pulled her gaze to the bracelet on her right hand. The checkout was so quick, that she didn't have time to notice Bucky smirking as he caught it.

"So are we doing the first procedure here? That chair doesn't look very comfortable." Bucky smirked again when he saw the brunette blush slightly. Shuri bumped his him as she walked over to Izebel.

"No, sorry Sergeant Barnes but we can't trust your mind nor do we know how your mind might react to this. Plus, we are going to do it tomorrow bright and early per Izebel's request. You know how she is about her early morning rising habits. Plus T'Challa needs to finish his mission with Okoye before we can start." Bucky noticed Izebel's face drop at the mention of this plan. Bucky couldn't help but show his disappointment as well.

Izebel noticed the rounding of his shoulders. She touched one gently.

"I promise we don't think you would willingly hurt us. It's just if I get too close to the programing and set it off like an alarm…" She trailed her sentence, not sure how to continue without imagining something horrible. "T'Challa just wanted to take precautions."

Bucky just nodded his head, but didn't say anything. Izebel gave his shoulder one last squeeze before picking up his journal and HYDRA's notebook.

"Besides," Izebel hurriedly spoke. "I honestly won't be starting there first. I'm hoping to get some more of your childhood memories back. That was an area you said you were forgetting major portions of it. Just little facts."

"You are wearing different clothes," Bucky stated before realizing what he was actually talking about. Izebel blushed slightly but looked down at the clothes from Shuri's special wardrobe for her. It was a pair of loose jeans and a long sleeve shirt. Her shoes were even different, looking like a soft canvas but in actuality being vibranium and helping her run faster then she could remember. T'Challa had insisted that she would wear something that could protect her from a punch from Bucky if he lost control. And something fast to get out of there. Shuri had other plans to put a tranquilizer into her back pocket, to be on the safe side. Either way, she was excited to have new clothing to wear that wasn't the same loose fitting ones she packed for the purpose of her sister's ministry group.

"Yeah, Shuri went a little crazy and designed new clothes for me. I think she was sick of the fact that I only had like 10 outfits." Izebel shrugged. Bucky looked perplexed.

"Did you really only have 10 outfits you brought with you?"

"I didn't want to pay for an extra bag on the flights." Shuri, who was watching this exchange barked out a huge laugh, causing the couple to jump at the intrusion into their conversation.

"Izebel if I had known that I would have personally flown to your house in America to get the rest of your clothes. Free of charge." She winked, and then turned back to her outreach files she had been working on.

"Oh shut up Shuri. Not all of us can fly an airplane."

"I can," Bucky joked, causing Shuri to burst into a fit of giggles at Izebel's unamused expression.

"All of you are overachievers anyways." Izebel grumbled. She snagged the bag filled with food and stalked out of the laboratory.

"You should probably make sure to feed her something sweet today. She is stressing out over the procedure tomorrow." Bucky just nodded his head and ran after the doctor. Izebel didn't make it very far before Bucky caught up to her and redirected her outside the labs towards their favorite lakeside view.

"You know I could probably fly an airplane. No one has bothered to teach me yet." Izebel grumbled. Bucky just laughed, but didn't offer to teach her. Izebel was most definitely a perfectionist, and they were the hardest to teach anything.

"I'm sure you could watch a YouTube video about it and you would be fine." Izebel laughed at the suggestion.

"Catching up on popular culture now huh? Shuri show you the video on the Wakandan's version of Vine where T'Challa was thrown across the room by his own suit? Classic." Bucky's face contorted in confusion halfway through the sentence, which Izebel just giggled at and patted his shoulder in fake condolence.

The walk was quiet this time. Normally Izebel would have a load of questions to ask Bucky. About his memories, about his training in the morning, about anything really. No question was too much for the doctor. But today, she was unusually quiet. She kept touching her kimoyo beads nervously, as if they would disappear if she didn't confirm their presence on her wrist. They made it all the way to the lake and Bucky had to physically hold her back from walking into the water.

"Woah there. You are so distracted Izebel. What is going on in that head of yours?" Izebel just looked shyly at Bucky, and shrugged her shoulders.

"You know, trying to make sure I remember everything about the vibranium medical properties and the cranial sacral therapy movements. No biggie." She could feel her voice shake and nervously tucked a stray curl out of her face. "I need to get a haircut."

"Izebel, you are seriously overthinking right now. Take a deep breath." She inhaled and exhaled, looking straight into the piercing blue eyes that were fixed on hers. Her cheeks warmed at the attention, but her breathing did slow down.

"I will be fine. It's just a lot of pressure you know? Doesn't help that T'Challa has been hovering and doting after me. Not my fault I didn't grow up in Wakanda and got training from the day I was born." Izebel plopped down on the rocks on the shoreline, continuing to grumble about how "not fragile she was"

Bucky let her complain for a bit, allowing her to get the nervous jitters out of her system. After several minutes, her voice began to fade, and her eyes caught his. A light blush dusted her cheeks, but she smiled softly at him.

"Sorry. You must be more nervous. How are you feeling about this?" Bucky smiled now. Really smiled. Tiny crow's feet appeared as his smile grew.

"I'm excited Iz. This is it you know? It's going to be great. I know it." Izebel's smile faltered at the unwavering trust that was evident in Bucky's voice.

"I think so Buck. It's going to be great. What do you look most forward to? Any special requests?" She wiggled her fingers jokily and he chuckled at the movement.

Bucky thought about it for a moment, picking up a flat rock and tossing it across the lake with his bionic arm. It skipped a total of 47 times before sinking below the surface. Izebel just waited patiently, picking up a rock herself and managing to skip it a measly 3 times.

"I think I'm just excited to be able to have a full picture. Sometimes I wonder if I could remember everything would I make different choices about how I would continue to live my life. For now it's easy. I'm just healing and sticking to the routine of laying low while continuing some light training. But once I remember who I was raised to be, and the threat of brainwashing is out of my head… well… maybe I can finally move forward to who I want to be."

"Do you think knowing your past is actually going to change who you want to be?" Izebel asked, curious now. Super heroes were something of a psychological challenge for anyone to understand. Just talking to Dr. Strange, it was clear he wasn't going into the business for the right reasons. He just ended up there and grew into the role.

"I don't think so. People grow and develop regardless of if their memories are intact or not. I'm still me." He shrugged as if it was so simple. Maybe it was for him. Super soldiers probably had super feelings and super convictions too. Izebel snorted at the thought.

"I think you can be the best you even without knowing every detail of your life. You have come a long way since the Potomac River debacle. I also think you have surrounded yourself with good people." Bucky hummed in agreement, but let the conversation fall into the doctor's direction.

"I don't think you give yourself enough credit sometimes Bucky. You were pretty mentally stable before I even got here. You did that."

Bucky didn't comment. She watched him for a minute, letting the complement settle into his brain for a while. He continued to pick up stones and flicked them across the lake, not even bothering to count. Behind her Izebel could hear the small children from the river tribe. She turned around and smiled.

 _"Did you bring us some lovely fruit today?"_ Izebel spoke gently in the native language of Wakanda; Xhosa. Bucky smiled at her effort. Izebel, for as intelligent as she was, also didn't give herself enough credit. Since arriving almost 2 months ago, she had learned several languages including German, Russian, and Xhosa. The first two were for him, because most of the notes were written in one of those languages. However, she began to learn Xhosa after the second week of being here because of the popularity they had over the river tribe children. Sometimes other tribal children would join them, but Nakita and Shuri had really sold the river kids on them. They were the ones who gave Bucky his nickname, White Wolf, even before he had been given the new vibranium arm.

 _"Yes Miss Izebel. I did! I have these jackfruit bits all peeled for you. I know White Wolf loves the jackfruit."_ Izebel smiled wide and gave the little boy a squeeze on his cheek.

 _"I say you go tell him yourself."_

Suddenly a crowd of twenty kids were surrounding Bucky, shouting things about their day, asking him questions. Bucky laughed, kneeling down to their height and stealing a piece of jackfruit from the first boy. Eventually they all settled down around him, and Izebel began to pass out the food Bucky had stored in the large canvas bag. It seemed as though every time they went down to this lake, the bag of food would get bigger and bigger.

Bucky was animatedly explaining a story about how the Howling Commandos once infiltrated a HYDRA base in Italy. He even did sound effects, causing the young children to squeal in delight.

Izebel watched most of the time. Sometimes she would egg him on to tell more stories to the kids, which he always happy obliged to. Today though, she remained on the outskirts of the group, just enjoying the summer breeze and the tales from World War II. Listening to the stories helped distract her just for the time being from the impending task that was less that 24 hours away.

Soon enough it was the late afternoon and Bucky shoed the kids away. Izebel gave some kids hugs as they ran away to rejoin their families. Bucky smiled. She was so relaxed now. Hopefully she would stay that way before their procedure tomorrow. He had all the confidence in the world for this girl. Izebel was thrown into the world of heroes and villains and was still swimming leisurely. Tomorrow would be just as simple for her, he knew it.

"So… dinner?"

"It's not even 5. All you think about is food." Izebel laughed. Bucky coyly smirked, but didn't deny the fact.

"What can I say? And anyways, you spoiled me with all your fresh pasta dishes that I can't help but talk about food with you."

At that comment Izebel threw her head back and snorted.

"You mean the time that _you_ got flour _EVEYWHERE_ and I had to clean up your mess?" Izebel recalled the memory from several weeks back. Bucky had been following his diet so strictly with the added fruits and herbs to try and improve his memory naturally. But the day before he had been complaining about not having real food and how he missed it. Izebel agreed. She missed real food too, seeing as though she normally prepared breakfast and dinner for the two of them. Izebel had made the mistake of thinking she could teach Bucky in an evening how to make fresh pasta, just as her mother did on any given day she felt up to it. Instead of beautiful fettuccini noodles, they ended up with flour everywhere and two giggling adults in a destroyed kitchen. They ended up eating whatever they could find in the pantry and called it a night.

"It wasn't that bad." Bucky muttered, completely guilty. She scoffed, but put a hand out anyways towards him. He pulled her up gently with his flesh hand, and she shock off the dirt that accumulated on her pants.

Bucky chatted about his favorite kids that kept showing up to hear his stories. Izebel smiled and half listened to his stories. Bucky always talked about his favorite kids. Specifically because some of them were the first ones to approach him after leaving cyrosleep.

"Hey," Bucky gently placed his flesh hand on Izebel's shoulder, jolting her out of her thoughts. She looked up at him, eyes clouded with thoughts and she tried to focus on his face. It shouldn't have been so difficult, but it was for her today. "I trust you. I really do. Please, just don't put any unneeded pressure onto yourself."

His thumb rubbed into her collarbone soothingly, while Izebel bit her lip nervously. He noticed the pink lip being tugged by her front teeth, and tried to not to stare too closely. Bucky's eyes snapped up to her dark brown ones, looking for any recognition of what he had said.

"I know." She whispered finally. They were in their kitchen, and Izebel had clearly been lost in her thoughts for a while because Bucky already had some plates out. "Have you ever had stuffed peppers? I miss those. The heat from the taco meat we would stuff into them is something I terribly miss. And you should have a good meal before…"

Trailing off again at the mention of the procedure, Izebel began to fuss around in the kitchen searching for whatever she was on about with the stuffed peppers. Some meals were still a little strange to Bucky.

The dinner was quiet. Bucky had tried to have some form of a conversation with Izebel but she kept getting distracted by whatever thoughts were whirring through her mind.

"You know what," Izebel said suddenly, catching Bucky off guard as he was washing a plate. Izebel was steeping her nightly tea, staring at it as if it had all the answers in the world.

"What?" Izebel smiled lightly at whatever idea she was considering.

"I think I should talk to Strange."

"What the invisible man who appears when you rub your magic crystal ball?" Bucky snorted. Izebel rolled her eyes and put her mug down and glared at him.

"First of all, he is an actual person. And second of all, it's not a magic crystal ball. I don't really know what it is, but it's not that. Third of all, you can tone down the sass grandpa." Bucky frowned at the age joke, but let it slide for the night. Izebel had smiled genuinely for the first time since leaving the kids.

"Well, whatever gets you ready for tomorrow I support," he stated softly. Izebel's features lightened, touched by the kind words that would sometimes come out of Bucky's mouth.

"Yeah, I think it might. He was the one who snapped me out of my crazy medical boards spiral I got into." Izebel rolled her eyes at the memory, and took a sip of the rich peppermint tea.

"Go, I got this. And thank you for dinner." Bucky focused back on the dirty dishes at hand, and Izebel gave him a quick wave before rushing off to her room.

Walking into her room, Izebel scoffed at the fact she hardly spent any time in here except to sleep or to read away from the lab. It was a startling change from her school days, when she would only be in her room, avoiding the older kids who sometimes mocked her. It was nice, Izebel realized, to have a reason to be out of your room all the time.

She ran over to the bedside table where the artifact Dr. Strange had given her a couple weeks back rested. She had only used it once, when she decided to bother him just like she did back during her medical school days. He had been in the middle of some magic practice, and the cape yanked him back in excitement of her showing up.

Orange sparks began to fly and she rubbed on the glass. The circle opened up to the same chairs and bookcase where they first sat and discussed her new task. Dr. Strange was already waiting for her, tea already made up. The cape ruffled in excitement at its owner's young prodigy's arrival.

"I already have a mug Dr. Strange." Izebel held the steaming peppermint liquid up in a cheers fashion.

"I didn't say this was for you." He snarked, pouring himself a mug. Izebel noticed what seemed like even more grey hairs sprinkled into his goatee.

She collapsed into the red velvet chair, taking another big sip of her tea before looking up at her former mentor.

"So, freaking out over the big test?" His eyebrow raised and Izebel just groaned in response.

"Don't mock me. Some guy's brain is on the line."

"You don't get to talk to me about people's brains being on the line. I did that for a living you know." Izebel just grumbled, taking another long drink of tea.

"It's just… its so theoretical that I'm afraid it might not work or make it worse. It doesn't help that T'Challa is making sure I wear like all this gear and Shuri is shoving all these tranquilizers into my hands whenever she can and asking me my opinions on them. This is an _actual person_ Strange. I feel like they are treating him like some type of savage animal."

Dr. Strange just let her vent. Izebel needed to vent sometimes. But he also knew Izebel could be extremely naïve when it came to people she cared about. The young woman just sipped her tea and signed deeply after her monolog. He placed his cup of tea on the table and struggled to find the words.

"Izebel, you have always worried excessively. Especially when it's about people you care about. You did this with your sister when she was getting married, you did this when you were presenting on the research we did together, and you got even more nervous when getting ready for your thesis defense."

Izebel didn't look him in the eyes but she could picture exactly his farther-like stare on her. She just shrugged and didn't comment. It was true, but she didn't want to give in so quickly. Not when the butterflies were making her feel like it wasn't true at all.

"Iz, he trusts you. When are you going to start trusting yourself in this amazing gift you have?"

"What my intelligence?" She scoffed. How many times had Izebel heard that comment. Dr. Strange just rolled her eyes.

"No, your kindness Izebel. I have never met a kinder person in the world. And being a doctor has only allowed you to develop into the most empathetic person I could ever have the pleasure of meeting. Hell, you could probably meet Dormamu and make him smile."

Izebel could feel the blush on this one. Dr. Strange's pep talks in the past normally consisted of a scolding of doubting her intelligence and hard work, and to pull her head out of her ass.

"Thank you." She said softly. He smiled and continued anyways.

"I think you also are feeling a lot of pressure on this one too because it's the first time you have really had friends that you care for involved in your work." Izebel raised her eyebrows at that comment.

"Friends? I've had friends. Tons of them." Izebel scoffed. Dr. Strange just raised an eyebrow and didn't speak. "Fine. I guess I haven't really had a lot of friends. But there was Rachel…"

"Used you for exam studying." Dr. Strange interrupted. Izebel faltered. Trying to think of someone else.

"Matt?"

"Dumb and wanted to get into your pants." He chuckled.

"He did not!" Izebel squeaked out, flabbergasted.

"You seriously didn't know? Izebel people have always used you. Either for your intelligence or your influence. Now you are finally around people who understand what it's like to be you. Shuri is intelligent at a young age and had a family to push her to use her gifts. Bucky is a man out of time, more wise and broken than he should be and you are the same. Growing up so fast that you didn't get a chance to breathe and enjoy life."

"Great, now you are giving me a lecture about friends." Izebel grumbled. She sipped her tea and waited for Dr. Strange to respond. His trembling fingers were tracing the edges of his cup, missing occasionally and dipping into the cup or away from the cup.

"I would have lectured you about friends a long time ago if I had realized the importance earlier. I lost a lost Iz. Christine…. my family… It gets hard, but it's no excuse to push people away that you care about. And just because you have a gift doesn't mean you have to shoulder it alone. I'm very grateful for my second chance here." Dr. Strange's honesty took Izebel by surprise. The man was full of surprises today.

"Dr. Strange-"

"Please call me Steven Izebel. We have known each other for almost a decade now. I think you have earned the right to call me that." Izebel blushed but continued.

"Steven, you have so much more to your life now than you ever did when you were practicing medicine. This is the happiest I have ever seen you be." And it was true. Izebel remembered how off-putting Dr. Strange had been with her, even being her mentor. While she got access to his swanky penthouse and even got close ups on his surgeries to discuss the research they were doing, his personal life had been very much hidden from her. Instead they focused on developing Izebel's skills, intelligence, and research ability. The Dr. Strange in front of her was selfless, almost. He was wiser, humbler, and honestly, Izebel was grateful for that. Not that Dr. Strange hadn't been anything but kind to her since she was 17 years old. No, she felt as though they finally were friends too, instead of her being the whiny brat he took in.

"I'm glad you came into this life. I feel selfish for saying that because who wants to enter this type of lifestyle. But it suits you." Izebel grinned at the complement. She was feeling a lot better than when she walked in. Settling into the chair more, she noticed Wong had come up the stairs and was listening to her old iPhone.

"Enjoying Spotify Wong?" She called out. Wong just gave her a thumbs up and nodded to Dr. Strange.

"Dr. Strange, I have something for you to look at regarding the Eye of Agamotto and its brothers and sisters…" Wong trailed off, looking to Dr. Strange and herself. Izebel got up, understanding this was Wong's nice way of telling her she needed to leave. Dr. Strange stood up too, and the cape ruffled in its human like manor. Izebel gave Dr. Strange a hug, the first ever hug she had given him besides the socially required ones from her thesis parties and such. The cape even joined the fun and wrapped itself around her too, the soft velvet tickled her arms.

"Thank you, for everything. I might pop in tomorrow if you have time…" Dr. Strange just nodded.

"Any time. You are always welcomed here. Oh! This is for you. Wong told me to give it to you." And with that he tossed an sling ring towards her. She caught it and confusion washed over her face.

"You would do best to probably train with something if you continue to be in this world. And if you aren't going to learn from Bucky and Shuri, you should have the option to learn from us. I hope you will be less annoying than this one was." Dr. Strange protested at the snide comment Wong threw at him. Wong just laughed and the two began to walk down the stairs.

"You don't have to Izebel, but always know the option to learn is there." Dr. Strange confirmed, before leaving. Izebel sighed, but slid the ring on anyways. She was going to have too many rings at this point. Shuri was designing a ring to conceal the vibranium weapons that she had grown to love.

Izebel returned to her room with the assistance of the glass artifact instead of the new sling ring. She wasn't really sure how to use the sling ring, even though she had seen Dr. Strange use it many times. Her room was the same when she returned. Same white comforter neatly made on her bed with the white and navy quilt her great grandmother had made her. The room itself was still neat as well. Not as many personal objects were in there except the small art pieces from the children from both Wakanda and Adriana's village. She signed, flopped onto her bed, and stared at the ceiling.

She could do this. Everyone had faith in her, so she would have to put some faith in herself as well. Now, all she needed was a good night's rest and everything would be fine, Izebel thought.

* * *

Sleep obviously didn't come easy for her. Izebel always found it difficult to sleep the night before big events. For her medical boards, she got a total of 2 hours of sleep. Both graduations and thesis presentations were roughly around the same time. Sighing, Izebel checked the clocked for millionth time, noticing that it was officially 2am in the morning. Instead of trying to sleep again, Izebel threw the covers off and left her room. To her surpise, Bucky was in the kitchen, boiling water in the tea kettle.

"I kept hearing you toss and turn." He whispered. Gently he placed two mugs onto the countertop, and reached for peppermint tea bags that were still laying on the counter from dinner. Izebel plopped into the swivel chair at the island, and put her head on the cool surface.

"I never get a good night's sleep before big things. It's terrible." If Bucky didn't have super hearing, he wouldn't have understood Izebel's muffled explanation. Bucky looked at her and snickered at the sight. Her dark curls were everywhere, blocking her face. Well, her face was also blocked because her arms were circled around her head, cocooning her. She had on a simple cotton white teeshirt, and a logo on it from what he could make out. The tea kettle whistled, but not before he noticed the sudden gold bar that was on her index and middle finger.

"What is that ring on your right hand?" Bucky poured the hot water into the mugs, and squirted some honey into it for good measure. At the question, Izebel's face was exposed.

"It's a sling ring." She shrugged, as if it was nothing, but with rings and Izebel, it seemed like that it couldn't be nothing.

"And?"

"And what?" Izebel asked defensively. Bucky just raised his eyebrows and nodded to the ring.

"And what does it do? Your silver ones hold your vibranium weapons. Which why you insist on wearing them all the time I have no clue…"

"Dr. Strange gave it to me. Wong and him gave me the option to learn the mystic arts if I wanted to." Bucky's face went dark at that comment, causing Izebel to perk up at the change in demeanor. "What's that face for?"

"You shouldn't have to learn how to fight." Bucky spoke sharply, and Izebel's eyes widened.

"Well excuse you mister grumpy pants. Didn't realize someone offering me to teach me self-defense was a crime against humanity." She scoffed. Bucky slid over her tea and took a seat next to her, still brooding at the comment. "And besides, I don't know if the mystic arts is for me anyways. Doesn't feel right."

Bucky looked at her, and studied her face. Izebel had always seemed pretty clear cut when it came to decisions. She was a lot like Steve in that way, Bucky realized. There wasn't a lot of room for grey in Izebel Anderson's life. But grey came with the territory of helping out super heroes. He wondered if the idea of conflict was what scared Izebel or the idea of mystic arts themselves.

"Is it the fact that its magic?" He asked cautiously. Izebel made a face, but didn't say anything. Instead she just took a sip of her tea and took a moment to think about it.

Was it the magic? Izebel wondered a lot how often it was her religious upbringing caused her to see black and white when it came to making life decisions. Magic was certainly a taboo subject matter in the south. But she trusted Dr. Strange. Would it be that bad to learn magic?

"I don't think so. Honestly, it's the lifestyle of Strange that really bothers me." Izebel admitted after some thought. She placed her tea down, and looked back at Bucky. His eyes were so blue sometimes, Izebel found herself thinking.

"Lifestyle?"

"He seems lonely sometimes. Like he is cut off from the rest of the world, holed away in his sanctum. I know Christine doesn't visit him. I'm the only visitor. I don't think I could live that life." Bucky nodded his head at her observations, but didn't say anything to continue the conversation. How much were you suppose to know about your doctor's life choices and aspirations?

"It's just, I want to help people by healing them. Not fighting. And I think if I was isolated and just told to protect a rock or a house, I wouldn't be doing what I was called to do. Plus, I love my family and friends too much to isolate myself."

Bucky perked up at the word friends. Did Izebel have friends here? She was probably referring to Shuri. A sudden wave of guilt crashed over him as he thought about how selfish he probably was, keeping her from being with her friends.

"Hey, I'm sorry if I keep you from your friends." Bucky noticed the confusion wash over Izebel's face. Then she began to giggle.

"You are my friend Bucky. I mean Shuri is my friend too and I'm sure if T'Challa actually held a conversation with me that didn't revolve around you, we could be friends too." Izebel rolled her eyes at the thought of the elusive King. Bucky beamed.

"I'm your friend? But I'm your patient?" Izebel scoffed at the question.

"You can be both Bucky. I'm here to help you and that's what friends are for. Besides I never really got an official contract to be your doctor anyways. I'm here just because I can and because of word of mouth promises."

Bucky laughed at the admission. Izebel smirked, but said nothing. She looked at the clock, which read 2:30am.

"Why are you even up at this hour?" Izebel asked. Surely her lack of sleep wasn't keeping him up. Bucky's face darkened at the question, and she realized he probably was up for the same reasons as her.

"Big day tomorrow. Plus I don't sleep much anyways," He answered nonchalantly.

"Well you can't just expect to do your best if you aren't getting a good night's rest." Izebel scolded.

"Says the girl who doesn't have super soldier serum in her veins and is up at 2am" Bucky quipped back. Izebel just rolled her eyes.

"Medical school and graduate school together is llike the equivalent to super solider serum. Why do you think Tony runs with people like you?" Bucky laughed.

"Steve and I beat the shit out of him." Izebel scoffed.

"But you lost an arm." Bucky's laughed stopped at that, and he playfully glared at her.

"Not cool Iz, not cool." Izebel just smiled. The two fell into a comfortable silence, returning their attention to their now chilly tea.

"Listen, I will make you a deal." Izebel broke the silence. Bucky shrugged his shoulders in response. "I will go to bed, and actually attempt to sleep if you do."

"Sounds like a pretty alright deal to me." Bucky extended his metal hand, and shook Izebel's extended hand. The two then got up, dumped the tea into the sink, and headed off to their rooms. Before Izebel could closer her door, Bucky's voice called out to her.

"Hey Iz? Thanks, for everything. Good night." Bucky spoke softly in the now dark hallway. Izebel just waved over, knowing he could very well see her.

"Goodnight Bucky. See you tomorrow." Izebel closed her door, crawled into bed, and was finally able to fall asleep. Tomorrow would be good. Hopefully.


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you everyone for the reviews and follows/favorites! I hope you all are enjoying the story. Please feel free to comment to your hearts desire. Warning for anyone who may have triggers there is some violence in this chapter. So tread lightly.**

 **Russian translations according to Google:** _Kto_ _tai_?- who are you? _Soldat, vstan'- soldier stand down_ _Chto proiskhodit - what is happening?_

* * *

Morning came quickly for Bucky. It felt like he had just put his head down when suddenly he heard the soft music and loud clanging of metal coming from the kitchen. Groaning, he rolled lazily out of bed and pulled on appropriate attire to greet Izebel. The girl would probably blush scarlet if he walked out in just his boxers.

It was when he was pulling on his linen pants that Bucky heard her voice. It was strong, and grateful? The super soldier didn't have to strain too hard to hear exactly what she was saying.

"And thank you again for giving Bucky such good friends. He deserves it. Which you probably know seeing as though you plan everything in the universe right? I just pray that I do what your will is ya know?" So she was praying? Bucky hadn't heard prayer like that. Adriana and Ayo formally prayed blessing over their dinners, and Steve's mother had many rosary beads she would use when Steve was sick. But this sounded just like talking. Izebel always had a way of doing things her own way, and conversing with God like he was a regular guy must be hers.

"Anyways, God. I pray for comfort for Bucky during the trial today. His mind will be opened and vulnerable but you are a healing God and Jesus performed tons of miracles where he healed the sick, so let's sprinkle some of that in there. And if it doesn't work out, I pray for peace in Bucky's mind anyways. And for Shuri to not be too mad. Also if you can make sure T'Challa isn't too grumpy today that would be great too. I get anxious when he is all pent up in Black Panther mode." Bucky couldn't help but snicker to himself at her rambles to God. It was cute. He threw on a simple cotton tee-shirt and tied his hair up in a knot before loudly making his presence known in the kitchen. He could smell the pancakes and bacon when opening his door. He called out, extra loudly just in case, to Izebel.

"That smells delicious. Don't tell me you didn't sleep and just started to cook instead." Izebel jumped, causing the spatula to noisily clatter to the floor, and pancake batter to splatter on her face. Bucky quickly grabbed a cloth and wiped the batter of her nose. A blush began to form over her cheeks, but Izebel managed to mutter a thank you.

"For the record I got an amazing 4 hours of sleep. I just woke up hungry. And I love pancakes." Her tongue stuck out in concentration, picking up the spatula and rinsing it quickly before flipping a perfectly golden brown pancake over.

"I'm sure it was the best 4 hours of sleep ever too." Bucky replied sarcastically. Izebel just huffed but didn't reply. Instead, she slid a stack of 6 pancakes over towards Bucky.

"You should eat you know. It's not like I'm performing brain surgery on you. And my pancakes are damn good." Izebel placed the now cooked pancake on her own tower of pancakes. Turing the stove top off, she reached for the syrup in front of Bucky and doused her pancakes in it.

"So let me get this straight. On days like this you don't get enough sleep but fill your body with sugar to get through it?" His question was muffled from the pancakes that were still being chewed in his mouth. Izebel's nose wrinkled in disgust.

"Seriously couldn't have waited until after you finished chewing?" She grumbled, impatiently cutting up her stack. "But yes. Sugar and tea will get me through today. Just what the doctor ordered."

"Just because you are a doctor doesn't mean its medically advised to do that." Bucky laughed. Izebel just chewed thoughtfully and shrugged.

"I do what I want" Izebel responded, smirking at the former assassin.

"Clearly," Bucky snorted. "But thank you for the food. You are always feeding me. It's nice."

"Well clearly my mother taught me well. She was always cooking. Adriana and I joked that it was the Italian in her to constantly feed us. According to my dad he gained like 20 pounds their first year of marriage. Can you imagine?" Izebel chewed on a pancake thoughtfully. She hadn't really thought about her parents in a while. That sometimes happened when she got so delved into her work. She wondered what they could be doing, if they were still upkeeping the small farm on their land. Maybe her father would consider retirement soon. Izebel decided after this trial today she should probably give them a call.

"Steve could cook. I remember that. I don't remember the food ever being good. In the military, at home, and certainly not with HYDRA. You are by far the best cook." His smile was kind, but Izebel just scoffed.

"You literally have nothing to compare it to besides terrible meals. So I take the complement but with a grain of salt man." With a scrunch of her nose, she poked him with her fork, before finishing up the plate in no time.

"Well, best get on my suit. Big day today and all that. Can't be in sweatpants for a medical miracle and all that." Izebel's sweatpants were comfortable though. The classic baggy college sweatpants made her feel more relaxed and cozy at night, but clearly wouldn't work today. T'Challa had been very specific about what she should wear. And Shuri had gone to town with creating a whole new wardrobe that was completely woven with vibranium to protect herself in situations where Bucky's mind could be triggered to relapse into the Winter Soldier. Shuri had been super excited to show Izebel this outfit two days ago. It appeared to be simple Tomgirl jeans, canvas shoes, a long sleeve black shirt. But Shuri also showed her the new and improved lab coat she designed. It was white, like every other medical doctor, but engraved above her heart was the description _"Dr. Izebel Anderson M.D. Ph.D. Mind Doctor"_. And walking out with it on, hair braided tightly to her head and down her back, she felt very sophisticated and ready. Double checking she had her kimoyo beads, vibranium rings that house her weapons, and her newest addition of the sling ring, Izebel walked out more confident than she was the day prior, and dragged a reluctant Bucky Barnes down to the main laboratory where T'Challa and Shuri were waiting.

The elevator was silent, Izebel brimming with excitement and Bucky exhibiting some dark emotion within his demeanor.

"I'm not scared you know. But I do have one question for you. And this is something we haven't really talked about, but I want to get your confirmation on it." She looked him square in the eyes, bringing Bucky out of his dark stream of thoughts. "Do you want me to program a safe word trigger in there? I said today we would be doing just childhood memories and I stand by that. But I know part of your moody behavior today is because you are thinking about the fact you can be triggered into a monster. I can try to make another trigger to reverse it if that makes you feel more comfortable. Shuri and I have already discussed this. But it's all up to you. This is your mind. You control the playing field."

Bucky's eyes softened and suddenly he reached around Izebel and gave her a hesitant hug. He was a lot taller than her, so her face was smushed right into his chest. Bucky released her as quickly as he pulled her in, offering her a soft smile.

"You think of everything don't you?" Bucky stood up straight now, waiting for the elevator to reach its final destination. "But if it's alright with you, I want my head to be my own. No more trigger words."

"No more trigger words." Izebel repeated, giving his hand a squeeze. "Sounds like a good plan to me."

When the doors opened, only T'Challa and Shuri's voices could be heard in the laboratory. And looking around, there was a strange emptiness to the facility. T'Challa looked comfortable today, only clothed in simple linen clothing, however the black panther necklace caught Izebel's eye. Shuri, ever the star, was much more flamboyant in her appearance. She was decked in a beautiful navy and black dress with tights underneath. She seemed the exact opposite of the other occupants in the room who went for the much more comfortable but practical wardrobe.

"Did you make sure all of us wore bland clothing so you would look like a Rockstar?" Izebel teased Shuri. Shuri just waved her off, and instead went back to her desk and rummaged around for a couple of last minute items. T'Challa greeted Bucky with a hand clasp and a slap on the back, which Bucky responded with. Izebel walked over to Shuri and helped assist her in the last minute arrangements. It was then that Shuri slipped a tranquilizer into the doctor's pocket, and Izebel nodded to confirm she had it. T'Challa had agreed to Shuri and Izebel's plan and algorithm if and only if Izebel was armed just in case something were to occur. And clearly the deal hadn't changed.

"He doesn't want anything extra. I asked." Izebel whispered. Shuri acknowledged her with a slight eyebrow raise, but didn't ask for any more details.

"You have your plan then for today?" The two men seemed to be unaware of the conversation that was going on. Instead they were laughing at something T'Challa had just said. Izebel smiled at the sight, and remembered to answer Shuri as Bucky's eyes glanced quickly over to her.

"Of course. You even know what it is so don't ask me again." Shuri put her hands up in fake surrender and walked away from the desk with some random objects littered in-between her fingers.

"Alright Sergeant Barnes. If you don't mind I'm going to bring you to your examination room" Shuri said ominously causing Izebel to snicker as Bucky's face contorted in confusion at the change in tone.

"Yeah, examining your mind. Hope you are filled with some pure thoughts there Bucky. Or else I might be able to see it." Bucky's eyebrows shot up in panic.

"Wait, you will be able to see what I see?" Bucky gasped. Izebel barked out a laugh, and she finally heard T'Challa laugh at one of her jokes.

"Maybe. Guess you will just have to wait and see." Izebel wiggled her fingers while all 4 individuals left the main laboratory and went to the original housing of Bucky. Shuri and her thought it might be best to utilize the cryochamber room for these types of treatments because the room was so large but also had a housing unit for Bucky if, and only if, he became so unstable they had to freeze him again before they could restart this process. Guilt started to eat at Izebel's stomach staring at the cold metal contraption that could contain Bucky if this all went wrong. _Please don't let this go wrong._

Set up in the middle of the room was the massage chair Izebel had requested. There was also a table with extra kimoyto beads and other medical accessories that Izebel requested just in case. Bucky looked at her helplessly, not knowing exactly where to go.

"You can just sit on the chair. And I mean you can keep your hair pulled back if you want, but I'm going to be all up in it regardless, so it's up to you." Bucky just nodded in understanding, and pulled the brown elastic band out of his hair, letting the shoulder length hair fall around his face. Shuri shouted something about a man bun, but T'Challa bumped her hip before she could go on more to distract the pair.

Bucky seemed uncomfortable sitting down in the chair. The chair was angled in a way that his chest would have to rest against what would normally be considered the back of the chair. There was also a slot for his face to go into, but he didn't like the idea of not being able to see what Izebel was doing behind him. The doctor was calm though, unlike yesterday when she was freaking out about potentially messing up his brain. She dotted some oil on her wrists, checked her pockets one more time, and then slipped on extra kimoyto beads before giving him a wave.

"So listen, you have seen me work on Ginika plenty of times. I'm going to take one bead from each of these bracelets, and roll them around your head like this." The beads were cool against the heated skin of the super soldier. His eyes fluttered shut at the smooth movement over his temple. "Besides just that, a hologram is going to be over your head. The kimoyto beads are designed to follow the algorithm Shuri and I perfected. But like I said, we are only following the neurons that we know should be connected to your childhood memories. The ones pre-fall okay?"

"Okay," Bucky agreed. Izebel helped him adjust into a comfortable position on the chair, and began to work. The movements were slow at first, helping Bucky adjust to the idea of Izebel working on him. After a couple of minutes, Izebel caught Shuri's eye and gave a slight shrug before activating the kimoyto beads. From there, a large hologram detailing Bucky's neurons and Shuri's algorithm lit up above the man bun. Izebel, following the instructions on the screen, began to adjust her hand placement. Her fingers wove into Bucky's hair, and massaged gently a kimoyto bead into the base of his scalp. Moving carefully, she dragged the bead up towards his temple, following his ear. Bucky gasped, and a neuron that was once dark began to light up on the screen.

"What do you see?" Izebel murmured. Bucky breathed in deeply but let out a soft laugh.

"I can see my sister. And the first time I met Steve." Bucky whispered breathlessly. Izebel just grinned, hands following the prompts the algorithm gave her. Looking up she grinned big at Shuri and T'Challa. Shuri was covering her mouth and jumping excitedly in place, while T'Challa just smirked, but was clearly relieved at the same time.

"Okay Buck, I'm going to keep going alright. Tell me when it's been too much okay?" He mumbled something in reply, but Izebel didn't catch it. Instead, for the next 30 minutes she continued to roll the kimoyto beads around his head. Every couple of minutes there would be a gasp of surprise as an old memory resurfaced. Sometimes, Bucky would even laugh at something that was brought to the fore front of his conscious. And Izebel continued to do her work, getting more excited as the procedure went on. After 45 minutes Bucky went stiff.

"Iz, wait…" But before he could finish his sentence his body jerked, throwing her to the floor. Before she could react suddenly his metal hand clasped her shoulder harshly. His eyes were empty, hair wild around his face, which was completely devoid of any emotion except rage. He began to shout in Russian to her.

" _Kto si_?" He demanded, wanting to know who she was. Izebel held her hands up, and shook her head at the changing form of T'Challa. The Black Panther was on standby.

" _Soldat, vstan'_." She commanded him. Recognition of authority allowed the tight grip on her shoulder to disappear, and he stood at attention in front of her. "Soldier. Mission report. What was the last thing you remember?"

Izebel's heart hammered. There was no way of knowing how long Bucky would accept her pretending to be her handler when he went into a state like this. She could see Shuri and T'Challa waiting for her word. Bucky's face was filled with confusion as he tried to comply with the command she gave him. Her hand slipped into her pocket, gripping the tranquilizer tightly just in case.

"Do I know you?" He whispered. Suddenly the metal hand lashed out again, this time connecting with her throat. He pushed her all the way into the wall, eyes wild with no understanding of who he was or what was going on. Quickly, Izebel stabbed the tranquilizer into his side, and pushed the clear fluid into his system.

"Soldier, stand down." She commanded roughly. The hand around her throat certainly wasn't helping her speak. Her airway cleared as Bucky removed his hand, but he went back to clasping her shoulder.

" _Chto proiskhodit_?" He asked before going down, the tranquilizer finally causing him to rest. "Izebel?" he questioned, before completely collapsing. Izebel let out a shutter of a breath, before sliding down the wall as well, next to where Bucky was now in a heap. T'Challa ran over, mask off, and held Izebel's face towards his.

"Are you alright?" T'Challa demanded. Izebel felt her neck, knowing it would be sore for a day or so. Nodding quickly, she brushed her cheeks to make sure she wasn't crying, and slowly stood up with the help of T'Challa's arm.

"Brother she took down the soldier quicker than you could." Shuri joked, trying to break the awkward tension that littered the room. Shuri stood back, working on adjusting the massage chair. Instead of its first form, it was now a slightly more comfortable restraint chair, that T'Challa quickly threw Bucky's unconscious body into. The vibranium handles engulfed his arms, not allowing him to escape anytime soon. Shuri walked over to Izebel and looked over her neck.

"Only a slight bit of bruising. But you should be fine. Apparently the Winter Soldier doesn't have a thing for killing women." Izebel scoffed.

"Or the programming wasn't completely triggered. Bucky knew I got too close. Pull up the hologram. Let me see where it was in the neurons where we triggered it." On her wrist, a map of neurons appeared and Shuri and her gathered in front of the image. Izebel lightly traced her throat, trying to make the feeling of metal disapear from her neck. "That is a lot earlier than we anticipated. I wonder if the trigger words they used might be established in other earlier memories so it would be harder to disengaged the programing?" Izebel thought out loud. Shuri hummed in agreement, and began to pull up the algorithm again.

"We didn't account for word significance in the algorithm. I'm sure some minor adjustments can be made to figure that out. And now that we have a pressure point identified, it will make it easier to work around it." Izebel nodded in agreement. A groan came from in front of the two girls and Bucky began to rouse.

"Is the tranquilizer supposed to go through his system that quickly?" T'Challa asked. Shuri scoffed at her brother.

"Well we don't want to completely knock out the good Sergeant now do we brother? How are you feeling Sergeant Barnes? You took quite a punch from the good doctor over there." Izebel rolled her eyes at Shuri's comment, but Bucky just looked confused. Izebel walked over to him, keeping a good amount of distance away from him.

"Do you know who I am?" Izebel asked softly. Bucky's eyes locked on hers, a frown appearing on his face.

"Of course. You are Iz, my doctor and my friend. You wear an unnecessary amount of rings for a person who never once had a boyfriend." Izebel's cheeks flamed red at the fact Bucky chose to share, but walked closer to give him a full examination of his head.

"There are no scaring from the kimoyto beads. Although with that confession of my love life I kind of wish there was, jackass." Izebel smacked his flesh shoulder teasingly, but moved aside to let Shuri back in to reevaluate the nerve ending that were reestablished through the first treatment. However, when she moved back Izebel noticed Bucky's eyes glancing towards her neck.

"I'm so sorry Izebel. I didn't mean to do that. Are you okay?" Before Izebel could try and comfort him, T'Challa stood in front of her, blocking her from Bucky's line of vision.

"I would feel best if Dr. Anderson were to seek some medical treatment. Sister, if you are quite alright, I'm going to bring Dr. Anderson to Ginika to address her injuries." Shuri just waved him off and T'Challa dragged her away from Bucky. Before the doors closed, she could see his dejected face looking after them.

"You are a brave woman taking on something like this." T'Challa spoke, breaking the silence. Izebel just looked over and shrugged.

"He needs help."

"And you deserve a normal life. Did you know I was the only one who said you shouldn't do this?" T'Challa admitted. Izebel furrowed her eyebrows.

"If you didn't want me here why am I here?"

"Shuri and Nakita made a compelling case." He laughed. T'Challa lead Izebel to a chair where he took out some bandages and other typical medical items before looking at her face and examining the wounds left from Bucky's attack. "I did not want to drag more innocent people into our world. I love Shuri, and I trust her judgement. She was brought up knowing that if someday she might have to take over everything our family built. You on the other hand…" He paused, taking a gauze and wiping the cut on her forehead. Izebel his in pain, but remained focused on T'Challa. "You are strong and were thrown into the world at too young of an age. But Shuri said that made you even stronger candidate for what we had in store. Because this would be the first time Shuri would have someone who went through a similar life experience to her. You could be a guide to her. A mentor if you would. Or even a friend. Nakita said the same thing. So I agreed. And you two have done many amazing things since you arrived."

T'Challa finished dressing her wound on her forehead. He took a step back and allowed Izebel to stand up if she wanted to. Rolling her neck, Izebel stood up and looked at T'Challa.

"I would like to think Shuri is one of my close friends. One that I might have to have a drink with tonight to both celebrate and forget this procedure." Izebel found a mirror and went to take a look at her neck. The tanned skin was already blossoming dark purple marks in the shape of fingers. One of her fingers traced it lightly, before stepping away. No, she couldn't look at them anymore. It would make her too depressed.

"You also didn't freeze. Which is more than what we could have asked for. I didn't even have to get involved." T'Challa complemented. Izebel just waved her hand and sat back down.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore. I'm just happy we got through what we said we would and Shuri is coming up with a plan for what the next treatment will be." T'Challa just sat down next to her, and the two fell into a comfortable silence.

"You have been attacked before haven't you?" He finally spoke. Izebel just nodded, but didn't elaborate. "I am assuming the other guy didn't fare well?"

"Nope." She replied shortly. T'Challa grinned.

"Did you kill him?" Izebel raised an eyebrow and laughed.

"Do I look like the type to kill someone? No. It was just a mugging. The guy grabbed me by the neck and demanded me to empty my bag. Before I could even start emptying it, some webbing shot out and the guy was attached to the wall. The Spider-Man came to my rescue. However, this was before the YouTube video so naturally I whipped out my gun and pointed it at him. Thought the kid was going to pee himself. We ended up getting hotdogs after. New York just seems to be the hub for super heros. I'm kind of over it to be honest." Shrugging again, Izebel leaned back and rubbed her fingers on her temple. The pain in her head must have something to do with the fact she got slammed into a wall.

"I met the Spider-Man before. I'm certain he wasn't sure what to do with you. Tony Stark is trying to mentor him. I do not know if that is going well for either of them" T'Challa chuckled. "Stark does not seem well versed with kids."

"Or people in general" Izebel grumbled, closing her eyes to avoid the now seemingly brighter lights. The impact against the wall probably gave her a concussion, Izebel realized. Groaning she put her head on T'Challa's shoulder and screwed her eyes shut. "Do you have any pain meds? I definitely have a concussion."

T'Challa's laugh was far too loud for Izebel's sensitive system, but he found her some pain medication before laying her down. He said something about being back soon and left her in silence.

* * *

When Izebel woke up, she was in the living room of her and Bucky's suite. A record was playing soft music from Sam Cooke, and the smell of beef washed over her senses. The scent was so strong that Izebel closed her eyes immediately and covered her nose.

"What are you trying to burn over there?" Izebel moaned, trying to suppress the urge to vomit all over the couch. She heard a click of the oven, and someone shuffling over towards her. A cool damp cloth was pressed on her forehead and Izebel sighed at the relief the cloth brought on her throbbing head.

"Hey, I'm sorry. Shuri told me you might want something to eat after you woke up. I know how much you like tacos so I was trying to make some of the meat. You made the seasoning a little while ago and…"

"Shut up you are _SOO_ loud." Izebel cut Bucky off. She felt his hand thread through her curls briefly, but the fingers were gone as quick as they arrived. Bucky stood up and she felt the couch spring back. Grasping thin air, still keeping her eyes closed, Izebel caught Bucky's hand and wove her fingers into his. She gave it a quick squeeze. "Don't apologize. I've had worse. Could you get me some water before I die though?"

Bucky chucked, muttered something about her being overdramatic, but left anyways to get her that cup of water she wanted so bad. He also brought over the bag of pills Shuri gave him before he was allowed to go upstairs to see Izebel. Apparently he had given her a concussion and Izebel would need these to keep from being sensitive to all stimulus.

Walking back over Bucky noticed she moved the cloth to over her eyes and her breathing was deep and even. Looking at her she seemed so small. Her curls were everywhere and someone, although he would never ask T'Challa exactly what he did to help her, she had her sweatpants and a soft teeshirt on instead of the medical vibranium outfit she was wearing earlier. Some good that did, he thought, looking at her neck that was littered with purple splotches from his metal hand. Bucky sat down next to her stomach again, and placed the glass of water on the coffee table before running a finger over her cheeks in an attempt to wake her up.

"Iz, you need to take some medicine alright? It will help with the headaches." He explained sweetly. Bucky was almost reminded of the times he would come home with medicine for a then smaller and sicklier Steve. However he wasn't nice to Steve. Instead, he normally threw the medicine bottle at the little punk and told him to take it before he shoved it down his throat. Bucky smiled at the memory, knowing that the only reason he had that one now was because of the woman who was now groaning in complaint at his words.

"I wanna sleep. Can't I just sleep?" Izebel whispered meekly. Bucky just laughed, moving a curl from her face and tucking it gently behind her ear.

"After you eat and take your medicine you can sleep." Bucky compromised. Izebel grumbled in annoyance, and slowly sat up, mostly using Bucky's shoulders for help. He handed her two pills and the water, which she took easily.

It took another twenty minutes before the medicine began to work for Izebel and she could finally open her eyes without being blinded by the florescence lights in the living room. By that time, Bucky had already finished making dinner and moved all the food over to the coffee table.

"Thank you for making dinner." Izebel said, before digging into the taco she made. Bucky just shrugged as if to say it wasn't a big deal.

"It was the least I could do. And like I said, I'm really sorry."

"I'm not" Izebel cut him off before he could go on about how sorry he was. His eyes snapped to hers in bewilderment. Wiping her face off with a napkin, Izebel began to explain herself. "Listen, I'm glad we were able to see there were trigger memories for you. That means we need to adjust the algorithm. Plus, as you can see, I clearly handled the situation. Got you sedated and didn't even need the Black Panther to come out to play. Plus I'm sure that T'Challa told you that this wasn't the first time someone has tried to strangle me before right?"

With that Izebel went on to explain her encounter with Spider-Man several years back before he got the cool suit which she now assumed was from Tony Stark himself. Bucky laughed at the story.

"I remember meeting him. He was in Germany when Steve and I went to the Fridge. Kid is an even bigger punk than Steve was. Apparently he is from Queens. Stupid kid is too strong for his own good. Grabbed my metal arm as if it wasn't a big deal." Izebel laughed at Bucky's story.

After a good meal and reconciled feelings, Izebel and Bucky felt a little bit better after the hullabaloo that occurred that morning. At some point Bucky flipped the record letting the soft music of Sam Cooke continue. It didn't take long for Izebel to get tired again, her head demanding more sleep.

"Bucky, I promised we are going to fix this." Izebel yawned before cuddling up into a pillow on the other end of the couch and falling asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Izebel's head was pounding as she tried to focus her eyes to look at her screen. It was only 2am in the morning and her mind was foggy. Why would she need to be up at this time? What woke her? Suddenly a scream broke the silence, and Izebel shot up out from under her covers. Confused, Izebel took in her surroundings. White comforter, blue quilt, this was definitely her room. Did Bucky move her last night? The cry jolted her Izebel out of her confusion and she ran out into the hallway.

The scream was coming from Bucky's room. Hesitantly, Izebel walked over to his door and inched it opened. A lamp was shattered on the ground and Izebel caught a glint of silver as his left arm thrashed in the air. Bucky's screams stopped as his head whipped around to the door.

"Shoot," Izebel muttered, realizing she probably made enough noise for the super solider to hear. His eyes, void of any emotion, glared into hers. Gulping, Izebel took a step into the room and tried to stand as tall as she could. His stare was unyielding as she entered her room, butterflies filling her stomach. She didn't say anything, just waited for him to say something. Bucky's eyes kept a steady watch on her silhouette from the hallway light. Slowly, his tense shoulders began to relax, and the gears in his arm whirred loudly in the quiet room. At that sound, Izebel took a further step into his room.

"I'm sorry I woke you," Bucky whispered into the silent room. Izebel stood a room's length away, but he could see her shrugging her shoulders as she often did.

"It's okay. I half expected the nightmares to come back after opening the mind a bit. Wanna talk about it?" Izebel offered, but Bucky's shoulders tensed at the thought of reliving what he had seen. Sliding her hands along the wall, Izebel found the light switch and slowly brought up the brightness. When the lights were halfway dimmed, Izebel could see the beads of sweat dripping from Bucky's chest. She could feel her eyes move down his body that was exposed, and the blush forming along her cheeks at the vulnerability of the situation.

Izebel's feet were moving her before she could even think about what she was doing. Immediately she found herself in the kitchen, pouring two glasses of water. When she returned to Bucky's room, he was fully clothed in sweat pants and a blue tee-shirt. The dark hair formed a curtain around his face. Sitting down next to him on the bed, Izebel handed him a glass of water and silently sipped from her own glass. The room stayed silent, only the slowing of Bucky's gasps for air filled the silence.

Butterflies filled Izebel's stomach and her mind whirred, thinking about what to do next. Being next to Bucky like this at 2am in the morning was a lot more intimate than she was use to with her other patients. Her thoughts began to wander, sleep deprivation and the concussion not allowing a thought to be focused on for more than a couple of minutes. Izebel's flesh fingers lazily intertwined with Bucky's metal fingers. His breathing slowed even more, and his hand gripped tighter to hers. Izebel's mind wandered for a bit more before she decided on her next course of action. Squeezing his fingers tightly, she stood up.

"Bucky, want to bake with me?" The super soldier's eyes rose at the question. Shrugging her shoulders, Izebel stood up but didn't make it far with Bucky's flesh hand joining his metal fingers that were woven into Izebel's.

"Can we just stay here for a second longer?" Bucky muttered remorsefully. Izebel tugged on her short pajama bottoms and succumbed to Bucky's wishes, sitting back down on his bed, leaning against him now. Her other hand came over his flesh one, and the two became intertwined as Bucky looked for support.

"Of course we can stay here. But can I ask a question?" Izebel whispered to him. Bucky squeezed her hand and nodded in confirmation. "When you were alone, before Steve found you, how would you deal with the nightmares?"

"Well first of all, I didn't have lamps this close to my bedside. But mostly it was calming the heart down and slowing the breathing. Then I would write what I remembered in my notebook and either call it morning or I would attempt to sleep again. Pretty simple." Bucky explained lightly. Walking across the room, careful to avoid the class on the ground, Izebel picked up Bucky's recent notebook he had been working on, and placed it into his lap. Tucking a strand of hair behind his ear, Izebel made eye contact with Bucky and gave him a soft smile.

"Honestly Buck, you literally just explained Written Narrative Exposure. It's a type of PTSD treatment many doctors use. So that's what we are going to do alright? But instead of you going to bed and leaving the past in the past, I'm going to go out into the kitchen, making something delicious and then we can talk alright?" Bucky's expressions flickered from stunned, to upset, to panicked. Izebel grabbed his hands and crouched down in front of him. "Listen Bucky, you have this alright. I know you can do this okay? And plus, I should probably get out of your room and put something more covering on alright? Don't want to ruin those 1940's and pastoral values we got going on here with us two?"

The joke seemed to ease Bucky's apprehensiveness. His hand reached towards Izebel's face, and she closed her eyes briefly, allowing his cool metal fingers to trace along her cheek before tucking a wild curl behind her ear. His hand lingered around her cheek for a moment, before dragging it back to his notebook. Izebel stood up, grabbed the now empty water glasses, and moved towards the door.

"Bucky," Izebel paused when reaching his door. "I'm right outside okay?"

Izebel let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in once she entered the kitchen. She had been taking care of Bucky for months now, but tonight, well tonight was certainly different. Izebel could remember cradling her nieces and nephews in the night after they woke from bad dream, but Bucky was a grown man. There was something about how open and exposed a person could be after waking up that gave Izebel tingles down her spine. And while she knew she was being a terrible doctor by not staying in his room, she was certain she was being a good friend by setting up personal boundaries like that.

Guilt was something Izebel could sympathize with when it came to Bucky's memories and torment. While she wasn't a victim of warfare and espionage, she certainly understood what conflicting ideologies could do to a person's mental status. Signing, Izebel reached to her head as if to stop the flow of thoughts from pouring into her conscious. Her head hurt too much from the concussion. But Izebel remembered everything perfectly, and as soon as a memory was triggered, the memory would seem to materialize at the forefront of her mind, forcing her to watch it like a preview of a movie.

Seemingly innocent comments would often trigger a series of sermons, lessons and conversations Izebel had had with her father or her other mentors that had taken her in at college. The ones that stepped into the role of parents while her father and mother remained on the other end of a telephone speaker. But like she did when she was younger and every adult figure were trying to mold her into something, she resorted to mindless activities like baking.

Her mother loved cooking at taught both Adriana and Izebel at a young age how to cook and bake. As she got older, her mother explained that often food was a way to encourage, console, and to thank people. Izebel found out during her junior year of college, right at the age of 15, that she could bake and let the memories that would violently be forced to be replayed in her mind. It gave her something to do instead of being washed away by tidewaters of emotions. It also helped to get her suitemates stuck with her on their good side.

While compiling the ingredients for apple cinnamon muffins, memories of her father, mother and Adriana filtered through her mind. Sometimes a memory from her time with Doctor Strange while in medical school would float to the front of her conscious. After placing the muffin tin into the over, Izebel rest her forehead on the cool counter top. Head pounding she groaned and allowed the cool surface to ease some of the pain away.

As soon as the headache began to fade away a soft hand touched her shoulder lightly, as if to test if she was awake. Had she fallen asleep? Bucky's hand moved to her cheek again, pushing the curls away from her face.

"Iz? I'm finished. If you want to talk after getting sleep it's alright. We can do that." Bucky whispered. He sat down next to her and watched her eyelids flutter in recognition to his voice. The timer went off and Izebel jumped slightly but meandered her way to the oven, pulling on some gloves and taking out muffins that smelled delicious. Smiling weekly, Bucky walked over to her and steadied her hands before she dropped the hot pan on herself. Sometimes a metal hand did come in handy when it came to heat.

"Mhmm, I hear you Buck. But these will be delicious. I promise." Izebel was clearly sleep deprived a t this point. The headache had returned with vengeance once she stood up from the island. She could feel Bucky moving the pan to the stovetop and she released it once she heard the metal clink together. His flesh hand grabbed her waist, careful not to touch the skin that was slightly exposed. She could feel herself move towards her room as Bucky gently guided her.

"Tomorrow I promise we will finish this alright?" Bucky murmured close to her ear. Izebel nodded and brought a hand to her forehead. After crawling into her bed, Bucky ducked out of her room before returning with the pill bottle from Shuri and another glass of water. He raised two pills to her face, and she greedily took them with the water. And then she slept. Bucky made sure to tuck the blankets over her shoulder before going back to his room.

He knew he wouldn't sleep the rest of that night. Not after that dream. Bucky didn't trust himself.

* * *

"I remember being a heavy weight boxer before going to the war. I also remember taking care of my younger siblings and Steve. They were all handfuls. But the dream had nothing to do with my memories. It was actually a nightmare, based on more recent events." Bucky explained carefully. His metal hand was wrapped tightly around the notebook, crinkling the book. Sighing, he tossed it gently towards Izebel who was wrapped in a blanket on the plush reclining chair.

Izebel had been there for the whole morning after waking up. She woke up later than usual, most likely due to the drugs that Bucky had given her. Her headache was gone though, and Izebel tried to keep it that way. Shades were drawn, her chair was positioned away from the windows, and she kept a huge glass of water by her chair at all times to stay hydrated. Bucky had given her several muffins and she only got up to go to the bathroom and to greet Shuri who had demanded to know her well-being and for the muffins.

Shuri's visit was short, and now the two American sat in a dimly lit room to discuss the events that unfolded several hours prior. The notebook had fallen neatly into her lap, and she read the words carefully.

 _I can remember waking up in the chair, not knowing anything but knowing I was wiped of any memory that made me, me. Looking up, ready to comply, I noted Izebel. And immediately a voice inside me ordered me to attack. My metal hand reached her throat, and her face wasn't scared, but sympathetic. I could see the life drain from Izebel's face. And then I saw Arnim Zola's face filled with approval. It was then I was given a new mission. Which I remember now was my first mission as the Winter Soldier._

Her hand reached towards her neck absentmindedly as she read the words on the paper. She could feel Bucky's gaze on her while she stroked the bruises that littered her skin. Signing, she took out her own pen and began to make some notes on the page.

"I'm no psychologist but I have some theories about the dream." Izebel stated bluntly. Eyes flickering towards Bucky, she realized how straight and stiff his posture was the whole time she was reading this. Curling further into the cushions, Izebel huffed her annoyance at his stance. "Bucky. I'm not scared, and I'm not going to hurt you or punish you. Just listen alright?"

"I don't think you will punish me," Bucky said defensively. Izebel just rolled her eyes.

"Really? Because it looks to me that internally, you feel as though the attack you performed on me, _when you weren't in your right mind and the programming was triggered_ , you feel as though Zola had won in his creation again the new creator, which would be me. You know, me the doctor who is trying desperately to reverse and remove whatever triggered brainwashing he put inside you?" Sarcasm dripped from her voice, but the message rang true. Bucky buried his face into his hands and thought for a second.

"You are too smart for your own good you know that right? It's like a constant tactical analysis going on in your brain. That analysis took you what, 30 seconds?" Bucky groaned.

"Flattery will get you nowhere James." Izebel smirked. Thumping the pen on the notebook thoughtfully, Izebel theorized more about the PTSD and new developments that occurred yesterday.

"Do you think of me as a creator or as a friend? Because we might have to change certain things to avoid more PTSD triggers and nightmares. That might be part of the problem." Izebel considered carefully.

Bucky's face hardened. "You can't possibly think me attacking you was your fault Iz, because it wasn't. I did that."

"You didn't do it. The programing did. But Shuri is working on creating an algorithm to target those nerve sites and erase the program more efficiently. However, I'm asking this because I'm afraid if you think I'm a creator, even if its deep in your subconscious, we won't be able to fully heal you."

"Why?" Bucky asked. Izebel was shocked Bucky was even confused on the notion.

"Because then I will just be another handler in your mind and you will never be truly free." Izebel explained simply.

The atmosphere became thick with the heaviness of the truth in Izebel's words. Bucky remained on his couch, deep in thought about the implications of her words, but also evaluating where those two stood.

Izebel couldn't help but be reminded of Dr. Strange's own words when she last saw him. Clearly she wasn't helping the case because she wasn't allowing Bucky to be seen as friend in her own mind. Instead, she was treating it as clinically as possible. Maybe, it was time to take a different approach. And actually allow herself to have friends.

"I did this wrong. I should have known how well you improved with Steve's visits that going about this being a doctor is the wrong way to treat you. This is about improving your overall health and if the only person you are taking to is treating you like a test subject, well then I'm just putting you into the same situation you were in with Hydra." Izebel admitted weakly.

Bucky just looked at her. Izebel couldn't read the emotion on his face. He just looked… tired. For once, Bucky might have actually looked his age for once, and the guilt that filled her stomach began to overwhelm her.

"Iz, you should know that you are doing everything you could. I'm the messed up one here. You are in uncharted territory here, become some sort of super species doctor. If anyone should feel guilty it should be me." Izebel scowled at the sudden depressing turn Bucky went into.

"If you go on a depressive self-hating rant the headache you caused me will be worse. Just learn to love yourself or something," Izebel lightly teased.

"I would feel less guilty if we could talk about something else," Bucky said honestly, causing Izebel to emerge slightly from her blanket cocoon. He looked at his hands for a bit before beginning his new topic of interest. "I would like for you to put some trigger programing words in me. Just in case. Oh don't give me that look."

Izebel blushed at his sudden snarky comment and him catching her frown. But Izebel couldn't help but stare dumfounded at this guy. They literally had just discussed her trying to act in ways that would trigger the least amount of PTSD episodes and now he was suggesting her performing a procedure his previous HYDRA handlers did? Sometimes, Izebel realized how idiotic patients could be. And James Buchanan Barnes was no exception. Trying to calm down the anger in her chest, Izebel rubbed her eyes and pointlessly tried to push back the stray curls that emerged from her lazy top knot bun.

"Do you even listen to what I say?" Izebel teased lightly. But in actuality, Izebel kept rubbing her cheeks in an effort not to smack the stupid man. "I'm not a Hydra agent. And I don't want a PTSD episode like we had last night. I'm trying to make you better not worse Barnes. And honestly, I think that at this point would make you worse."

Bucky just frowned, but didn't respond. Instead the soldier got up abruptly and began to pace around the open room. Izebel just watched as he turned over thoughts in his head, weighting pros and cons. His face was sometimes like an opened book, and today was one of those days. His brows would furrow before smoothing out from a new idea, before hair would fall into his eyes from his head shaking at the inability for the new idea to work.

What Izebel didn't expect was the sudden rage surge from Bucky as his fist slammed into the poorly made vase Izebel had brought from Adriana's village. Her blanket cocoon seemed to take the backburner when for the second time in 24 hours, Izebel found herself standing in front of the mentally agitated Bucky Barnes. Ragged breaths came from Bucky, his muscles in his shoulders tensing as she approached. Ignoring all flight protocol from her brain, her hand extended upwards to his shoulders, and began to instruct him on breathing slowly. Soothing words began to pour out of her mouth causing the muscles to ease underneath her touch. Reaching up she pulled his hair to expose his face and she slid in front of him, careful to avoid the shattered pottery on the floor by their feet.

"I can't hurt you. Not again." It was then Izebel noticed the water filling his eyes. Everything thing about his presence screamed panic attack right now, and Izebel could tell she was the trigger for this. His out of control behavior made his guilt soar and it all overflowed at the sight of her injured. Before even analyzing her actual movements, Izebel wrapped herself around Bucky's torso, burring her face into his chest. His body stilled at the sudden invasion of space, but his hands gently wrapped around Izebel's body as she began to mutter the same gentle encouragements to breathe in and out slowly.

"It's going to be alright. We are in control here okay? It's okay." Izebel spoke in confirmation. "These might not be the trigger words you wanted, but I'm telling you right now, I trust you. And I plan on telling you that every moment, regardless of what state you are in."

Bucky flinched at the words and ran. Slamming the door behind him, Izebel sighed and found the dustpan and broom, sweeping up the broken shards of a child's artwork. The heat of dread filled Izebel's stomach as she tried to think of how this was all going to work out. There were too many variables again. She left like she was back at square one.

Instead of retreating back to the couch, Izebel angrily threw the shattered pottery into the trash and stormed into her room. She found a sweatshirt and sandals and found herself angrily making her way to Shuri's lab.

The lab was busy with people today, which provided the Wakandans with quite a shock as she stormed to Shuri clad in sweatpants and a sweatshirt.

"You look so cute in your American college clothes." Shuri laughed. Izebel groaned and stuck out her kimoyto beads to her before sitting on a stool.

"Guarantee you can fix this stupid concussion if you target all the proteins that are building up from the stupid collision to that stupid wall." Izebel moaned, rubbing her head as the loud sounds of all the occupants of the room caught up to her sensitive hearing.

"You are a clever girl, even if you can be demanding. Come, sit down. I want to hear all about you and Bucky's dream diary exchange." At the mention of Bucky Barnes all the Wakandan scientists left. Izebel was grateful for the sound to be gone.

Cool beads hit her forehead and she almost moaned in pleasure at how good it felt to have the pressure be released from her head as Shuri moved the beads around. It only took a few minutes of manipulation, but the concussion was fully healed. Before she could even say thank you, a soft cough disturbed the young girls.

"Dr. Anderson, your highness." Steve walked over to them slowly, as if not trying to disturb anything. Shuri's face brightened up at the sight of the super soldier.

"Captin Rodgers! You are back. Come to check out the suit I have made you?" A shy smile crossed Steve's face at the offer from Shuri.

"Not today ma'am. I'm going to hang onto this one for a bit longer." The suit was slowly starting to get ruined. Izebel noticed the star was gone now, and even the Avengers' logo was missing too. "Do you know where Bucky is?"

"I don't know. He kind of ran out today during our session. But if I was a betting woman I would say you should check the gym." Izebel mentioned. She casually put her hands in the front pocket of her sweatshirt and stood up from the stool.

Steve smiled, thanking her before leaving the laboratory. Izebel looked over at Shuri, who was watching him very closely as he left.

"He is a looker huh?" Izebel giggled. Shuri's eyes rolled but she laughed in agreement.

* * *

The gym was an easy enough place for Bucky to remain alone and with his thoughts and emotions. Feelings that hadn't made an appearance in over 70 years began to rush out of him. But instead of being smart and talking it out with Izebel, he was here, punching the sand boxing bag. Just like how Steve said he had done when he first came out of the ice. It just so happened that the pounding of his fists against the leather was more relaxing than talking.

The session with Izebel with those kimoyto balls went a lot better than Bucky had anticipated. He could still see the images from his childhood across his eyelids every time he shut them. One of the main things he remembered was always fighting. Slamming his metal fist a little harder than necessary, Bucky let the images of his childhood wash over him again. Steve pre-serum laughing, his sibling around a small kitchen table, beating the snot out of the poor bastard to win his first welterweight championship at the YMCA back in New York. The odd thing about these memories that unlike the fuzziness that sometimes would come with recalling a memory, these ones were as clear as the day they happened. Bucky couldn't help but smile because he was gaining back what he lost.

Except, he could lose more than what he bargained for. Memories from his past as Bucky were fuzzy that he recalled on his own, but the memories from the Winter Soldier were are clear as the memories Izebel had restored to him. A new memory was the reason his fist beat heavily on the leather in front of him now. Izebel's eyes were always dark, it came from the fact that her brown eyes were so dark that it was hard for people to decipher the pupil from the iris. Bucky noticed the difference though, especially when the Winter Soldier had his grip tight on her neck. Izebel's eyes were so wide that the small flecks of light brown in her iris were exposed.

The sound of her choking caused another swell of anger to rise from the pit of his stomach. Bucky laid one solid punch on the bag and it flew across the room. Heaving deep breaths, he closed his eyes and tried desperately to shake the image and noise from his memory. Pausing to slow his heart rate, Bucky recognized the sound of obnoxious clapping.

"Man, I remember when you slugged that guy from Queens. Won your first championship with a swing like that one." Steve Rodgers appeared from the entrance of the gym. He was in his old Avengers tactical gear, but this time, more tears started to sprout on the uniform.

"I remember that punk." Bucky snickered before going to pick up after his mess. Steve quirked an eyebrow at him and let a smirk fall across his face but didn't push the memory subject.

"So, getting back into the swing of things here training?" Steve asked innocently. Bucky just grunted, picking up the sandbag and tossing it into the corner where Steve and Bucky's collection was growing.

"I don't plan on going out into the field any time soon. But it's a nice pass time." Bucky admitted.

"It's all I did when I first got out of the ice," Steve agreed.

The two fell into silence again. Steve just waited for Bucky to say something. The angst was basically rolling off of him in visible waves. Plus, Steve knew from Natasha breaking into the Wakandan files that Izebel and Bucky normally made their way down to the lake every day around this time. When Steve flew the quinjet over the lake and didn't see the small group of children that reportedly surrounded the two Americans, he knew that something must have gone wrong with the treatment.

"T'Challa reached out to me. Wanted to make sure I knew that you guys were starting your treatment." Bucky rolled his eyes but grabbed his water bottle and went over to the punk to great him properly. They hugged, and when they separated, Bucky began to explain what happened. It's not like he ever kept many secrets from Steve over the years. He remembered that vividly now.

"I gain most of my childhood memories back. So that's nice. But Izebel couldn't get the brainwashing protocol out. Zola put trigger memories in my mind so if someone tried to rewrite anything the Winter Solider programing would go off. It wore off pretty quickly, but it wasn't… pleasant." Scenes from yesterday flashed before his eyes again. Steve's hand clasped his shoulder reassuringly.

"Izebel and Shuri seem to have a handle on things. I passed by them in the lab. Told me I could find you here."

"I'm sure she is already in the lab." Bucky grumbled angrily. Of course she would return to the lab. He stormed out and she probably felt guilty.

"I think we got some stuff to discuss Buck." Steve sighed.

"Damn right we do." Bucky agreed.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys! Sorry for the delay. Had some trouble writing this one because I know where I want to go for the major end goals, but getting through these moments where the characters have to be less than perfect can be hard to write. I hope everyone is having a good weekend! Thank you to all those who have been commenting. Its so greatly appreciated. And a special hello to the new subscribers! Please feel free to comment!**

* * *

Bucky didn't stay away from Izebel for long. Steve was mostly to thank for that. In true role reversal fashion the once shy Steve was now the one pushing the once suave Bucky to talk to a girl. To be fair, the reason Bucky was avoiding this girl was because the last couple of times he saw her he had a knack for breaking her things. One of those things almost being her throat. The other being a prized pottery piece from a child from her sister's missionary program.

Over the past two months of her living in the Wakandan apartment, Izebel had begun a collection of artwork around the main living area her and Bucky shared. The pottery piece Bucky broke was one of many that were littered around. He showed every piece to Steve the next morning, explain Izebel's connection to each one of the kids.

"She seems really nice Buck. And I'm glad she is helping you. Seems like Izebel has brought you out of your shell." Steve finally said after looking at the 10thcrayon drawing. Bucky beamed while looking at the drawing.

"Iz has got a lot of moxie that's for sure. Always keeps me on my toes." Bucky admitted. Steve clasped his shoulder.

"She really is. Now, you told me that we were going to meet Shuri and Izebel in the lab today right?" Bucky nodded hesitantly, which didn't go unnoticed by Steve. "Oh come on. She clearly doesn't have any hard feelings. You choked me out and I didn't let that stop me from being friends with you."

"You also have super healing punk. Iz doesn't." Bucky grumbled.

"Ahh nonsense. She probably has some crazy magical juice to heal her up." Steve joked.

The two ended up wandering down to the laboratory where they found the two young girls engrossed with something on a hologram. Izebel was laughing so hard that a snort would come from her, causing her to cover her mouth. Shuri was laughing right along with her. The sight caused Bucky to smile. She looked okay. Izebel was back to wearing her normal daily clothes and not the sweatpants she was snuggled up in yesterday. Steve was probably right. Magic juice.

When Shuri caught sight of the super soldiers, she quickly waved away the screen and greeted the men. Izebel had to take a second to compose herself, because Shuri had just hid a video they had taken the night prior from scaring T'Challa.

"Morning ladies," Steve greeted them kindly, holding out a hand to Izebel.

"Steve you don't have to shake my hand." Izebel complained, but shook it none the less. Looking at Bucky, she noticed that he looked better. The bags beneath his eyes were fading and a ghost of a smile was left on his mouth. "Have a good sleepover?"

"A sleepover?" Steve questioned, causing Shuri to snicker.

"Izebel and I had a wonderful sleepover. You know, when you stay in someone else's house or bed instead of staying at your own." Shuri explained lightly. "Are you sure I can't interest you in the new weapon designs?"

Steve shook his head and geared the conversation back to Bucky. "Bucky wanted to talk to you guys about new programing? Something about safe words…"

"I already have those set up an we can wire them in with the kimoyto beads now. Shouldn't take more than ten minutes." Izebel offered, holding up her beads in confidence. "You can just sit in my desk chair if you want. It shouldn't be that time consuming."

"I thought you had a concussion." Bucky stated in concern. Rolling her eyes, Izebel ignored him and lead him to her desk.

"Contrary to what you think, you have been very helpful with understanding the mind James. Izebel was smart to come down to the lab yesterday. The kimoyto beads work the same way they do with your head and actually cured her of the concussion." Shuri explained eagerly.

"So… I'm fine. Sit down." Izebel grabbed his shoulders and pushed him down into the chair. The kimoyto beads lit up as soon as they touched his temple and the map of Bucky's brain appeared above his head. Izebel could hear the exclamation of wonder coming from Steve, and she let herself smile for just a second. It was pretty cool after all the technology the Wakandans had.

"Okay so Bucky, I'm going to bring the memories as close to one of these trigger points as I can, and then I'm going to insert the programing okay. I'm going to have to say the words, and it might seem a little weird. But I promise they will work. We took the names starting with Hydra's names for you and then your real names. Plus conformation words and the trigger phrase that got you out of this mess in the first place." Izebel explained gently. The weight of his head lulled into her hands and she continued to spin the beads around his temple. Bucky mumbled a "yes ma'am" before shutting his eyes completely.

Like Izebel promised, the programing only took 10 minutes. Bucky's heartrate accelerated but the Winter Soldier didn't make an appearance. Reciting the words carefully 3 times, Izebel completed the software installment into Bucky's mind, and removed her hands. Slowly, Bucky rose his head upright and looked at Steve. Concern was washed over his face, but Bucky's smile let the emotion wash off.

"He is good as new Cap." Izebel snickered. Bucky stood up in front of her, and offered a small thank you. She could feel his eyes looking at her neck which she tried to conceal with her makeup and keeping her hair down. Izebel had never had to cover up hickeys before, so she wasn't really sure how well she did covering up the bruises. "I'm fine Bucky. I'm good as new too," Izebel reassured Bucky. The frown didn't leave his face though, so Izebel gave up the little staring contest. "Well Steve, how much of Wakanda have you seen?"

"Not much Izebel. Unfortunately I don't think I will have much time. I really only came out of respect of T'Challa and also to set some secure line of skype. We have that big case to crack with the remaining members of Hydra who are smuggling vibranium weapons." Shuri took over from there, providing Steve with a new hologram phone that would have a direct line to T'Challa, Shuri, Izebel and Bucky. They went over briefly how to set up a skype call and Steve was on his way.

"Buck, are you sure you don't want to sit in on this mission briefing with us? I know you were a help to Okoye and M'Baku last time…" Looking over at Bucky, she could see the tension begin in his shoulders. Before Bucky could open his mouth, Izebel found herself interjecting, "Actually Steve, I might keep Bucky here for a little bit longer. I have some extra tests to run on the kimoyto bead interface and Shuri wanted to take a look at the arm design again."

Realizing she got dragged into the conversation, Shuri nodded quickly and said, "Shoo Captain. I'm sure my brother awaits your presence. He can live without Bucky for 30 minutes."

Steve left with an extra shoulder grab to Bucky and some half hugs to Shuri and Izebel. The two girls waited until Steve was clearly out of the building before moving back to what they were doing before the super soldiers ruined their laughter. Bucky stood there awkwardly in the middle of the lab, unsure of what was actually happening.

"Bucky, we don't actually need you. I could just tell you didn't want to be involved in whatever Steve and T'Challa are up to." Izebel explained sympathetically. Bucky's eyes softened and he muttered a quick thanks. "Instead of the stupid meeting, wanna watching this awesome video Shuri and I were watching before you the Captain rudely interrupted us?"

Bucky grinned and walked over. Turns out the two girls got up to a bit of trouble while Bucky and Steve caught up. The video was of T'Challa being thrown across the room yet again by one of Shuri's experiments. There were several other prank videos on Nakita and Okoye too.

"So this is what you two get up to when I'm not around?" Bucky smirked. Shuri went on a tangent about Izebel needed to be young while Izebel stifled giggles at Bucky's bewildered look.

"Alright Shuri, let's not confuse the poor old man any further." Bucky's nose wrinkled at the snide comment but didn't push the subject any further. "Are you going to hack into the meeting Shuri?"

Shuri rolled her eyes at Izebel. "I've had it on record since Steve left. If there is anything interesting the system will pick it up for me and I will watch that part. I already have several different upgrades for everyone's suits because of this mission. T'Challa thinks it might be tough which is why the vigilantes are being brought in."

If Izebel was being honest, she didn't like this aspect of her new job. Growing up several minutes away from where aliens invaded can change the perspective of a child growing up. Some of her classmates were excited about the increase in enhanced individuals while others were extremely nervous about what was in store for their future. Izebel was only 19 when the portal was opened in Manhattan and she lived just 72 blocks from where it all went down. Her parents made her come home for the week after it happened and her mom flew back and stayed with her in Manhattan for almost a month after that to make sure she was safe. Violence wasn't something the Anderson family endorsed especially with her sister trying to give peace to young human trafficking victims, her father being a spiritual healer, and her becoming a doctor. And it was getting increasingly frustrating to hear about these evil men accumulating and warping vibranium.

"That makes sense," Izebel commented, but didn't try to continue the conversation. "Hopefully it will be over soon."

"Hopefully," Bucky echoed.

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They didn't stay in the laboratory for long. Instead, Izebel found herself on the edge of a cliff with Bucky, just looking towards the Wakandan city. It was truly beautiful. Sometimes, Izebel liked the peace and quiet. The last couple of days had been hectic with the beginning of Bucky's true treatment. It was going a lot quicker than she expected, and was trying to determine what would happen next. She had some ideas thanks to the files that seemed to appear on her desk regarding new medical technology and enhanced individuals biology.

"What are you thinking so heavily on?" Bucky questioned. Izebel had been silent the majority of the time getting to this cliff; by hover bike no less. Izebel normally had something to say about the technology.

"Nothing much. Just thinking about life. The next steps you know?" Izebel admitted. Bucky nodded in understanding. "You excited to be free of mind control soon?"

Bucky just stared off into the distance, pondering the question Izebel asked. "Yeah I am. Not sure what I am going to do next though."

"I feel the same way," Izebel muttered.

"At least you can rejoin society. Thinking about going back to the States?" Bucky asked innocently. Izebel just shrugged.

"I don't know if I will or not. I really like it here. Some things I could live without but I don't really know if I went back I would be doing everything I could. I like working with you guys because I feel like I'm actually doing something." Picking at her fingers, she thought more about her place in Wakanda. Shuri and even Ginika were growing close. T'Challa was right, it's nice to be around people who understand being smart beyond your age.

"The mission they are talking about seems to be stressing you out." Bucky commented. Izebel let out a huge breath.

"I just don't like hearing about all this evil stuff. The violence? It's just a lot." Izebel admitted. A frown formed on Bucky's face. Immediately guilt knotted itself into Izebel's gut as she recognized the self-doubt and haunted cross his face. "Bucky, I didn't mean you. I just… I really don't like the idea of all of this. I thought I could get behind the super hero stuff, but it's just so sad. People shouldn't have to be doing this. Especially you. I could tell you weren't comfortable with Steve asking you to join back up. You shouldn't have to feel like crime fighting is your only option. There are plenty of other things for you to do."

"Like what Iz? Become a doctor like you did? I highly doubt I would be invited with open arms to a medical school." The spite was think in his voice.

"Buck, I'm not saying that. What did you do before you went into the war?"

"I fought in heavy weight." Bucky stated bluntly. Izebel scoffed.

"Did you like anything besides fighting?" As the words came out, Izebel realized how rude she was being. "Listen, I didn't mean that to be mean."

"It's nothing Iz. But you gotta realize life isn't black and white like you somehow like to make it seem."

"I know it's not!" Izebel interjected. The serious look Bucky shot at her quickly shut her up.

"The thing is Izebel. Sometimes if you have these powers, you gotta use them for good. It's a burden. But you of all people should understand. Shuri and yourself have intelligence that is beyond anything I have ever seen. And you guys use it for good. I have a cybernetic arm and a whole lot of espionage and special ops training. I have to use that for something decent." Izebel couldn't believe what she was hearing. This man was hesitant to follow his best friend into battle 3 hours prior but now he is determined to go back? What changed?

"Then why didn't you go with Steve?" Izebel shot back angrily.

"I'm not ready Iz. I won't be any help until I get those words under control. Then… I can do good."

"It doesn't matter if you have those words in there or not. You have done your time Bucky. More than anyone could ever ask. Plus, I have no idea what it will be like when you get thrown back into these situations again and again. The mental stress of it alone could drive you nuts. I don't want that for you!" Frustrated, Izebel sat up and began to pace the side of the cliff. Bucky watched her warily, but waited for her to cool down.

Izebel wasn't going to calm down anytime soon. In fact, her mind was going wild and the emotions of rage and empathy and bitterness began to coil and pool deep in her gut. Without another word, Izebel grabbed the smooth rock from Dr. Strange and rubbed it between her fingers.

"What, going to run to Dr. Strange?" Bucky spat.

"Okay, what is wrong with you?" Izebel sighed. She couldn't fathom why Bucky had any right to be mad at her. All she had done was help him out for the past two months and now she was getting the butt end of his rage? No, Izebel wasn't going to allow that. "I can see Strange if I want to see Strange. What does that have anything to do with what is going on with you?"

"You were the one who took out the stone! You always run away to him instead of actually engaging here with the people around you." His nostrils flared a bit as he stared at the rock in her hands. Quickly, Izebel put it back in her pocket.

"Okay that's not really fair. I've never learned how to have friends. Just mentor relationships. And you know this!" Izebel huffed. The grass was tickling her knees now as she stepped further and further away from Bucky and his attitude. "I don't know what you expect from me, but you have to learn patience."

"I waited 70 years to be saved from Hydra, I think I can be patience doll." Bucky muttered darkly.

"Okay that's not fair! You can't just pull the Prisoner of War card whenever you want!" Izebel argued. Bucky sent her a challenging eyebrow quirk.

"Oh? Like how you shouldn't use the childhood genius card? Tony Stark managed to do it. He has some good friends." Bucky argued back. Groaning, Izebel shook her head and angrily ran her fingers through her hair.

"Tony Stark is a pretty fucked up individual if you haven't noticed."

"And you are perfect either." It wasn't until that moment that Izebel realized how angry she could get. By no means did Izebel thinks she was perfect, but perfection was always her goal. Bucky's words struck a chord deep within her self-confidence. Grabbing her bike quickly, Izebel hopped on and began to put her helmet on.

"Where do you think you are goin'?" Bucky yelled over the startup of her engine. Looking back, Izebel caught his eyes. They seemed to soften, probably because they noticed Izebel's own eyes were kind of wet.

"Away from here." Before Bucky could get another word out, Izebel was speeding back to the science building. Shuri should still be in there and she wanted to get away from Bucky.

Thinking back on it now, Izebel wasn't sure why she was so angry. But something was set off and instead of dealing with it, she ran. Just like Bucky said she does. The science building came up quick and Izebel quickly dropped down into the main lab where Shuri was reviewing the main highlights of Steve and T'Challa's meeting. A new hand blaster was in front of her, being tinkered with as she replayed another video.

"Something troubling you Izebel?" Shuri asked, not even bothering to look up from the blaster. Izebel sighed and flopped into her chair at her desk. Swiveling around a couple times, Izebel thought about what to say.

"Shuri, did you ever not want to fight?" The question seemed to catch Shuri off guard because she sat up a little straighter and she even put down the piece of vibranium she was working with.

"All the time." She answered, shocking Izebel. "In my culture, you know the children of the king can take over the role of the Black Panther. That was always T'Challa's dream, but I knew someday I could be asked to do it. So I trained. Okoye and Nakita were often my trainers and I learned a lot. But I truly loved the research, so I soon as I could I made myself indispensable here. I found out later on though I missed a lot of the adventures that came with defending Wakanda. Would I leave my assignment here? Absolutely not. I love being able to help grow my countries defenses and power the city in ways unimaginable. Plus I love working with you and you have opened my eyes to how vibranium can be used to enhance all areas of healthcare."

Izebel blushed at the complement, but thought about what Shuri said. It was clear Shuri was confident in her role. Maybe that's what made the difference here.

"Shuri, once Bucky is healed, do you want me to stay?" Shuri laughed so hard at the question Izebel thought she was going to fall off her chair. Wiping her eyes, Shuri gave Izebel a kind smile.

"Do you think we throw you out of the border once Sergeant Barnes was healed? Unfortunately Izebel, I think you might have found yourself permanently a member of the Avengers Initiative." Shocked, Izebel examined Shuri's face for any type of hint that this was all a joke. "Is it just hitting you now what you have signed yourself up for by agreeing to be with the Wakandan Empire?"

Shrugging, Izebel twirled around in her chair again. "I never considered myself the Avenging type." And it was true. To grow up surrounded by these super heroes and then to realize you were stuck in the same boat as them changed a person's perspective on life. "Shuri, I don't have to fight do I?"

Shuri paused to think. Her eyebrows furrowed in consideration at the thought. "It might be wise for you to learn how to fight. Just in case. But I'm sure you will discover what your role is in this world. Maybe you just get to permanently be my laboratory assistant," Shuri said after some consideration. Izebel considered the thought. When finding your purpose in this crazy world though, Izebel had no clue that often time your purpose and destiny came with very very high stakes.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi everyone! Welcome new followers! I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. I'm excited to get into the thick of Izebel and Bucky's feelings, and to finally see Bucky free of the pesky mind control. Please feel free to comment and follow!**

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It didn't take Bucky long to realize that Izebel wasn't going to come back. Reluctantly, he mounted his own hoverbike and drove back to the city. Instead of going straight home though, if he could call the apartment that, Bucky found where Steve, T'Challa, Okoye and M'Baku were just finishing their meeting. So much for 30 minutes Steve. Smiling lightly, Bucky remembered the times where Steve would drag on Howling Commandos meetings so long that Dum Dum Duggan would pass a flask around to get through the dense material.

 _At least Steve is consistent in his lack of time management_ , Bucky thought mockingly. Steve looked very out of place among the Wakandan citizens. Okoye was dressed in her traditional red uniform while M'Baku was covered in furs, clearly just coming down from the mountains. T'Challa always looked royal with his black long traditional robes with silver embellishment. But Steve, that kid never could dress himself. Compared to the others, he was severely underdressed in a pair of dark wash jeans and tight blue tee shirt.

"Am I too late for the party?" Bucky asked innocently. At the sound of his voice T'Challa and Steve turned to greet him with grins. Okoye seemed annoyed that he would join in, and M'Baku just watched in amusement at the whole scene unfurling around him.

"Never too late Buck" Steve grinned. T'Challa waved him in and Bucky cautiously entered. "We were just going over the final outline for how Natasha, Sam and I might do some monitoring of several potential Hydra weapons dealers while reporting back to Okoye. Did you want to take a look at the list? Maybe you recognize a couple of names."

There is was again. Bucky gulped. The assumption that Bucky could remember these things about Hydra because of his time there. People, especially Steve, tend to overestimate his ability to remember things regarding his POW past. Taking the folder from Steve, Bucky quickly glanced at the information about the two main suspects. Only one looked familiar though.

"This guy seems familiar." Steve just nodded knowingly.

"Rollin. He was a handler of yours with Rumlow. He was incapacitated by Natasha during the whole Project Insight affair, but we lost track of him during the damage of the battle. We were lucky enough to catch Rumlow in Lagos, but I have a feeling and Natasha has enough intel to believe that Rollin might have taken over Rumlow's place in the Hydra ranks." Steve explained easily, catching Bucky up.

"It would make sense, but Hydra's American operation was really only within Alexander Pierce's domain. The main operations were held in Germany or in Russia. It's kind of shocking if Rollins made it that far up that quickly in the Hydra ranks. I think he is probably still the muscle of the operation and not necessarily the one calling the shots. Natasha might have to start looking into more leads regarding the structure of Hydra to figure that out." Bucky explained easily. Surprisingly, it was M'Baku who was the first to respond. While the 3 fighters were contemplating the new viewpoint, M'Baku stood up from where he was seated and clasped Bucky's shoulder in a similar fashion as Steve had done on countless times.

"Your Highness why have you not brought the White Wolf into the forces of the Wakandan army? I know he would be a great asset to the team." At the word _asset_ , multiple guards went up in the room causing the tension to thicken. Bucky's arm whirred, Steve took a step closer to Bucky and T'Challa's face fell grim.

"We tend to avoid certain terms when discussing Bucky's role with us. The White Wolf hold a special place within the Wakandan society, and is not an asset to us. He is a valued member of our society and will be treated as every citizen of Wakanda is treated." A slight smirk formed on Bucky's face when he realized it was Okoye who spoke the kind words. She gave him a stiff nod, which he responded back in kind.

"I am not ready to be in the field. I'm easily comprisable. That is what Dr. Anderson is here to fix. From there…." Bucky trailed. _Would he go back to serving?_ If he had his way, probably not. Shuri knew he was eyeing the piece of land along the lake to build his own house. But, Bucky also remembered the sense of duty from his younger years, of enlisting and serving his country. The cybernetic enhancements and super soldier abilities might not give him a choice.

"From there Dr. Anderson will clear him and Bucky can make the choice whether or not to continue to serve." T'Challa confirmed. M'Baku just smiled lazily and sat back down. He raised his eyebrows in thought, but decided against speaking again. Instead, he fell further back into the cushions and waited for the next person to speak.

"Well, Dr. Anderson did encourage me to come and talk to Steve about this mission." Bucky said weakly. It wasn't a lie technically, but Izebel would have never actually told him to do it if she wasn't so angry. He could see T'Challa's eyebrows raise in shock at the half-truth Bucky told. Twisted thoughts of guilt and anger floated in Bucky's conscious while he considered his next words. "I think, if it is all right with everyone here, I could be of some assistance with Natasha, Steve and Sam in gaining some intel regarding the Hydra operations in Germany and Russia. I do know after all where their main operations are located."

He immediately felt guilty agreeing to the assignment, but at the same time the look of relief that came from Steve's face as he agreed to work back in the line of duty with him made the guilt fade away. Steve wouldn't bring him to anything stupid right? Who was he kidding, Steve always did something stupid and he had to fix it always.

"It's nice to have you back Buck." And with that, Steve laid down a new plan for the intel mission that Bucky would leave for in 20 hours. Steve pulled him out of the room with a spring in his step talking about how nice it will be for the two of them to be back in action again. And although Bucky was excited about going to do something good, the guilt returned quickly when Steve dragged him to Shuri and Izebel's laboratory to 'pick up some items for the trip.'

A breath of relief escaped his lungs when Bucky saw Izebel wasn't in the laboratory. The brutal words spoken between the two of them were fresh in Bucky's mind, and the last thing he wanted to deal with was Izebel going on about his reckless behavior.

Shuri greeted them cheerfully and gave them new coms to communicate not only with each other but with the Wakandan Science Base. "Unlimited Range" Shuri explained smugly to Steve as he asked how that could be. Bucky picked up a couple things including a new riffle and a new suit that Shuri had been bothering him about for weeks anyways.

Just before they left though, Bucky caught out of the corner of his eye Izebel walking in. She was still in the same clothing from earlier, but now she had a comfortable sweatshirt that had some Disney logo on it and was wrapping her fingers tightly around the mug that was steaming into her face. Their eyes remained locked for a minute, both flickering emotions of regret, sadness, and anger at the previous altercation between the two.

"So, going with Steve officially?" Izebel asked coolly. She continued her walk over to her desk and sat down nonchalantly. She sipped her tea lightly and grimaced at the temperature of the drink. Bucky couldn't help but smile at the girl in front of him. Izebel was terrible at concealing her emotions. Her attitude towards him was almost hitting him in waves.

"Yes, um… I thought it would be for the best." Bucky answered sheepishly. Izebel's eyebrow quirked up in response, but she didn't immediately respond. Instead, she put her tea down and rummaged through her drawers of her desk and pulled out two things. The first was a com similar to what Shuri had given them, but with different symbols on it. The second was another pair of kimoyto beads. Izebel sighed, focused on the two items and suddenly both began to glow a blue color that matched his tactical suit perfectly.

She stood up and walked over to him, barely leaving more than 2 inches between their chests. The air in his lungs caught and she began to raise her hands towards his face. Easing onto her tip toes she got closer to his face, brushed his hair to the side and placed the com device under his earlobe. Briefly, her eyes locked straight into his, inches away from one another. He could hear her breathing catch too. A faint blush rose on her cheeks and she quickly fell from her tip toes and took a step backwards. Just as fast she grabbed the kimoyto beads, placed them on her wrist and brought it up to his ear.

The com device activated quickly and Izebel's beads glowed in response. Dragging her hand away from his face, she quickly explained it would be their own personal line if for some reason he felt he was being compromised. She should be able to utter the words at any moment or even talk him down from a triggered PTSD episode.

But Bucky was barely listening to her. Something almost changed. Looking at her so close to his face. His eyes began to memorize her features, the dark brown eyes with matching dark eyebrows and hair framing her tanned face. For the first time he noticed that she really didn't wear any makeup, her lip were naturally a soft pink color. There wasn't even any evidence of Chapstick along her lips. The curls were wild again today, with some springing up on the back of her head and looping back down into the rest of the mane. His metal arm whirred lightly in hesitance to fix it.

"Bucky are you even listening to what I am saying?" Izebel scoffed looking at him with a harsh glare. Bucky winced at the tone, but nodded and refocused on the girl in front of him. Rolling her eyes, Izebel went to sit back down in her chair. "If you need me I'm here. But I'm not going to compromise your mission. However, if you do feel up to super hero work after your little mission I'm going to try and fix you up as quick as possible when you get back. I also have another mission for you when you get back." Her eyes were wide with excitement, which made Bucky happy.

"Actually Izebel, if you could come over here the Captain and I have come to a potential arrangement that will appease all parties in this relationship. Tell me, when was the last time you talked to your parents?" Shuri asked. Steve and her had finished with the equipment check by this point, and the two had a map pulled up of the South American continent. Several spots were marked for potential intel locations for Natasha, but one trail held a particular interest to Izebel.

"Is that flight path to my house?" Izebel asked warily. "Isn't it against like Spy 101 to go to a home of a person within the team?" Steve actually laughed at the joke.

"Well, Yes but this is mostly for us actually. Because I will be doing some outreach in America again shortly and T'Challa will be touring for UN negotiations, I was thinking we could all make a trip to Rio De Janiero for a transfer of good like our dear friend Sergeant Barnes." Shuri explained easily. "But for you Izebel, I was thinking it might be time for you to call your parents and discuss your more permanent role here in the Wakandan Science Division. I'm sure we could make a stop from New York to your house in… Arcadia? With the quinjets we can easily pick up all your final belongings that need to make it here to your permanent residence."

Izebel gapped for a couple of seconds, looking around the small circle of now permanent colleagues she will be working with. She left after collecting herself, muttering something about calling her parents before disappearing to her living quarters.

"And what exactly will she be doing here Princess?" Steve asked professionally. Oh the Captain voice. Bucky rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Dr. Anderson has proven herself to not only be a useful member of my laboratory but also a noble friend to both myself and Bucky. We discussed today the importance of having a proper medical treatment protocol for all the enhanced individuals who are on and off the grid. Dr. Anderson wishes to spearhead that project, off the grid. But on the grid, she will be helping me as the liaison for science and medical outreach and research for the Wakandan Outreach Centers in America." The clear plan caught Bucky off guard.

"And how the hell did you two come up with this in 1 hour? Izebel just told me off about not knowing what was next and all of a sudden you have a plan?" Bucky growled out. Steve's eyebrows rose, but he did nothing to protect the Princess from the sudden hostility that Bucky was showing.

"Sergeant Barnes, if you actually paid attention to the inner workings here in Wakanda, you would know we don't invest into people we don't believe in. Dr. Anderson was a strong choice to help you, but there were other advanced and lengthier plans that she is involved in with Wakanda's place in your society. I'm sorry that we didn't let you or Izebel in on these plans but we wanted it to be a genuine interest from her, and not a gap year experience before settling in a steady practice in America."

Arguments floated through Bucky's mind, but he kept quiet as Shuri's words settled into his head. While he would defend all Izebel's intentions, he knew that the only reason he could was because Shuri and T'Challa gave Bucky and Izebel the time to know each other.

"Although, the Avenger's Medical Protocol was all her idea." Shuri admitted smugly. "Only took her 10 minutes to come up with the idea when I told her that there are ways to defend this world without being caught up in the fight."

The two men just stared at each other. While Bucky was relieved Izebel didn't have a desire to fight, Steve and Bucky realized how dangerous it could be if she tried to collect all the medical information regarding the most wanted criminals in the world along with the most protected enhanced individuals. Before the two could get lost in the logistics of the plan, Shuri handed Steve the last piece of information needed for the rendezvous points and channels to access them. The two Brooklyn boys left the laboratory quickly. Within the hour Bucky found himself leaving Wakanda for the first time since arriving with his arm blown to smithereens.

Steve couldn't keep himself contained, and after initiating autopilot, he turned his chair around with a shit eating grin across.

"So… Izebel?" Bucky wanted to wipe that smug look off his face. "That dame is exactly the type of gal we use to go for. Crazy independent and runs straight to trouble."

"I don't know what you are talking about. You have been on the run for too long that you are sniffing out gossip out of nothin'." Bucky objected, but even the reminder of Steve being on the run couldn't remove that smile. Rolling his eyes, Bucky tried to ignore Steve instead. The little bastard had always been persistent, and this certainly wasn't an exception.

"Oh come on Buck, she's got hell of a lot of moxie!" Steve called out to him as Bucky physically tried to remove himself from the situation. Not that there was a lot of places to go on this plane. Sighing, Bucky turned around and looked at his longtime friend. The excitement was overwhelming and Bucky didn't know if any of the thoughts in his head today were worth the excitement radiating off his friend.

"Don't go getting your panties in a twist alright? Today was just a weird day. We went out to the cliff that she likes with the hoverbikes and Iz was thinking real hard about something. All of a sudden she started to get angry about her choices in life and where she would be going and then she got on me about my choices so we fought and then I went to see you-"

"Wait, you agreed to this mission because you got into a fight with Izebel?" Steve asked flabbergasted. Bucky winced at the question, because Steve was right. While he ran into war willingly and was willing to fight the good fight again at some point, the reason he was on this plane now wasn't because he was running. From what? _That was to be determined_ , Bucky thought.

"Well yeah we fought, but apparently it's what she needed. Look at her now. Iz is staying here and coming up with a medical protocol for all enhanced individuals. Sounds like she figured it out." Bucky admitted shyly. Steve just scoffed at the comment. "What? You don't like the idea of having a secured and trusted person knowing the medical ins and outs of all the people who save the world ass?"

"You do realize how much of a liability Izebel is going to be now right? One of the smartest minds digging into the medical records of every super human being? Come on Buck. That's reckless. And I know a thing or two about that."

"I know that." And Bucky really did understand the danger Izebel was putting herself in. However, it's not like she could integrate herself back into society now. She knew the location of several of the most wanted criminals in the world and she singlehandedly figured out how to reverse mind control. The target on her back was huge already. At least if she stayed working in Wakanda her sister was close and the majority of her family could be easily placed under protection from both sides of the Avengers factions. "I'd feel better though if she can be protected by us though. The safest hands are our own after all."

The two fell silent after their talk, only small comments about the task that laid ahead of them. Thoughts of Hydra, Wakanda and the future swirled through their minds. The options were limitless, but based on the trajectory they were on, Bucky had a sour feeling in his stomach that the plans were soon to go astray.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello everyone! I am so sorry for the delay on this chapter. The summer was so intense. Anyways, I hope everything has been going well and I hope the wait was worth it!**

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There is always an object in people's lives that brings back memories and emotions from their childhood. According to Shuri on the plane ride over to America, it was the smell of vibrainum. Izebel couldn't help but laugh at the confession because Shuri herself was only a teenager. For Izebel, there was one pickup truck, her Chevy 1980's Silverado that she built herself at the age of 15, one of the most confusing times of her life.

At the age of 12 when it was first established Izebel would attend college with her sister, there was no trajectory to where she would end up in the world. Most pastor's children ended up in the church in some way shape or form. Sometimes they marry into it, sometimes they heavily volunteer in the church. However, when tasked with picking classes to determine her future, Izebel just stuck to the basic general education classes. How could anyone expect a 12 year old to know what to be when they grew up?

It didn't take long for Izebel to realize there was only one discipline for her. Science. Science was her first love. To this day Izebel remembers dissecting her first shark and the joy it brought her to see how everything worked within an organic body. A lightbulb switched and all she knew was that biology and understanding how organisms grew and developed was going to be her passion. Izebel utilized the pity professors took on her for not having friends and transformed that into laboratory positions and research opportunities. While she couldn't travel without parent's permission, she could delve into the worlds within the labs present on campus.

Exceeding all expectations, Izebel was a sponge and absorbed all the information available to her. But her junior year was extremely tough. She was only 15 years old and again was asked what her life's ambition was. But that pickup truck she built over the summer in between her Junior and Senior year of her undergraduate program helped give her the time to understand what she longed to do. To help and heal people. Obviously something that hasn't changed.

Izebel stood in front of a mirror somewhere within the Avenger's Tower that had been loaned out to the Wakandan Empire by Tony Stark. Shuri threw an array of fabric at her when they landed on the tower, explaining the conference and announcement would be done here to establish her role in the Wakandan Outreach Initiative in America. Basically her cover story.

Shuri never failed with the designs for outfits. Well, at least her Wakandan Design Team never failed. If Shuri was designing all these clothes Izebel was going to have to have a serious talk about getting enough sleep. The dress itself though was perfect. Just enough of a modest princess flair, something Izebel could imagine Kate Middleton wearing. It was a deep green knee length sheath dress. The neckline was an asymmetrical shawl collar neck, and Izebel could feel the muscles in her shoulders tightening into a defensive pose, preparing for the bombardment of press that was just in the other room. Hearing a knock at the door, Izebel quickly braided her hair into two separate Dutch braids into a single ponytail into an attempt to tame the wild curls desperate to escape.

"Alright I hope you are decent or else Pepper is going to have a talk with me again about personal space." The voice of Tony Stark became unmuffled as the door creaked opened. The infamous man appeared in front of Izebel dressed in a fancy pinstriped suit, tinted sunglasses and sneakers. Izebel raised an eyebrow quizzically at the sudden appearance of this man.

"Hello Mr. Stark. Guess I should be thanking you for the job opportunity," Izebel stated carefully. Moving away from the mirror she was originally in front of, Izebel took an easy step further into the room to the two plain couches that decorated the center of the room. Tony's hand traced the end of the couch as he stared at Izebel's defensive stance.

"I don't bite. Also, no Mr. Stark okay? I just wanted to extend a thank you. I know… Well, I know I'm not everyone's favorite person in the world." Tony grimaced at the admission. Tilting his head in thought, he stayed firmly on his side of the room.

"No, but everyone is entitled to their own opinions," Izebel stated smoothly, taking a seat and clasping her hands tightly together. Izebel could feel the tension in the room, but she wasn't sure if it was from her bashfulness or from Tony's guilt.

At her statement Tony took a seat. The pregnant pause soon became awkward as Izebel waited for Tony to say more. Why was he here anyways? Izebel was fairly certain T'Challa didn't have to sign the accords as an advanced individual because he was already a king of a nation who signed the papers.

"I'm sure you, Shuri and other members of the Wakanda empire believe I sent your file over there to erase some of the mistakes I've made." As he filled with his watch, a map appeared in between the herself and Tony. The map had several pinpointed locations from around the world. Several which were on New York City. "Project Insight is how I found you. Obviously we, as in the pricks who are bound by the Sokovia Accords, do not disclose with the United Nations that this type of algorithm is within our hands. It helps us keep specific interested parties away from intelligent and enhanced individuals. You were one of the top hits, and it was intriguing. Mostly for personal reasons, but not the ones you are thinking of." Izebel's face softened and her stomach dropped in realization. Suddenly the purple hidden underneath his eyes became more prominent.

"Child geniuses." Izebel guessed softly. Tony grimaced but tapped his nose in agreement.

"Spot on kiddo. Anyways, I obviously knew I wasn't the best to continue to be the popular culture role model for childhood geniuses who accelerated through classes and made their way up the corporate ladders. They need role models like you. I hear from T'Challa that Shuri has been more lighthearted, if that is possible, since you have begun to work with her." The map disappeared suddenly, leaving Izebel face to face with the man she knew blew off Bucky's original Hydra issued arm. Her muscles tensed at the thought.

"Role models are good. But you seriously can't expect me to believe that giving me a pat on the back for being a 'good citizen' is why you showed up here." At that comment, Tony's grin grew across his face, and he slid a singular USB, unsurprisingly Iron Man themed, across the table to her.

"I heard from a little birdy that you might be investigating into some of the more exciting aspects of working in medical practice. I just thought I would help you out. Don't go too crazy with that information. But it's all I have been able to gather up about anyone you might want to have as a potential client."

Carefully taking USB and slipping it into her purse, Izebel smiled kindly at Tony. "Thank you. For everything." Tony rolled his eyes and waved his hands. Standing up he put his hand out for Izebel to shake.

"Please, you are helping us. I should be thanking you." Grasping her hand tightly, Izebel grinned wider. Tony turned to leave before Izebel realized she should say more.

"Wait!" Izebel blurted out awkwardly. Tony turned around slowly and held his hands out expectantly. "It's just… you talked about you not being the favorite person in people's books currently and I just wanted to let you know there is a little town in Florida called Arcadia where there is a group every week who have been praying for you since 2008." She could see the apprehension on Tony's face at the mention of his kidnapping.

"I'm sure a lot of people were praying for something to happen in 2008." Tony said bitterly.

"Well we were praying for you to return safely, and when you did, we prayed for strength. Because it's something a man like you could have an extra dose of. They respect you Tony. And while it's difficult to be the front line, there are many who are grateful regardless of the decision you make." Tony gave a weak smile at the confession and proceeded to the door. But then he stopped, turned around and gave a knowing smirk to the doctor.

"So, I forgot to tell you. I've been told by the spider-ling that apparently you two met, and he introduced me to this thing called shipping-"

"Ah ah ah! I don't want you to even THINK about completing that sentence Stark. I don't need to know what the kid or you think about my love life or whoever's love life and I CERTAINLY am not that kind of doctor." Izebel shouted quickly, causing Tony to laugh harder.

"I'm just saying, if any of our senior citizen's sex life status changes we need to document it. Their age range has the highest rates of STD's." Tony laughed.

"Why did I agree to work with you people?" Izebel grumbled, pushing Tony out of the room, and walking out of it herself to find Shuri. The entire way to the press room, Tony continued to try and make jokes about senior citizens and sex but Izebel would cut him off any time he opened his mouth.

"Thank GOD!" Izebel sighed once seeing the princess. Shuri has her permanent grin on, and laughed at the uncomfortable look on Izebel's face.

"I see you had a fun conversation with our friend Mr. Stark." Shuri giggled. Rolling her eyes, Izebel adjusted her clothes and pulled out her tablet.

"I'm ready whenever you _children_ are done and ready to focus." Izebel snickered. Shuri just nodded and pulled the tablet from Izebel's hands. The slight roll of her stomach happened again while looking at the tablet. The statements seemed to be short, only a couple of paragraphs regarding the Wakandan Outreach Initiative in America. Could she really do this though? Make a whole conference regarding this made up role? The knots began to thicken in her stomach and her fingers tightened around the screen.

"It's a simple press conference really. I will discuss the science initiatives for the fiscal year and then introduce you and your new role and then open up for 5 minutes of questions and then we are out of here." As Shuri explained what was going on, Tony gave a wave and departed from the two girls.

Izebel nervously smoothed out her dress and waited back stage for Shuri to call her out. Flashing lights were already messing with Izebel as Shuri explained the mentorship program. _Oh Tony,_ Izebel couldn't help but think. _He is really a sentimental guy._ Soon Shuri called her out as the new lesion for the Science Instruction in America and an aid for the mentorship program. Shuri did a wonderful job of covering her role. Before she knew it, Izebel was standing at the podium taking questions.

The air became a little thin as the bright lights blinded her eyes. Hesitantly, Izebel unlocked the tablet and cleared her throat.

"Sorry guys, I have to read off the tablet. It has all the important stuff," Izebel mumbled. A screech of feedback echoed through the stereo system causing several grumbles of annoyance to wave through the audience. Blushing, Izebel gave an apologetic smile before reading the statement as clear as the knots would allow her to.

"As Princess Shuri stated, my name is Doctor Izebel Anderson and after completing several months of research with the Wakandan Science Division at the invitation of King T'Challa I am happy to report that I have been giving the opportunity to step into a new role of Science Liaison for the American division of the Wakandan Outreach Initiative. What we can look forward to through this collaboration is the security of mentorship programs for at risk youth in America along with providing a safe alternative for after school programs geared towards the understanding and development of the greatest scientific knowledge Wakanda and America has to offer. In the following months we will be identifying mentorship leaders for the students enrolled into these programs to have appropriate access to in regards to the inspiration of a new generation of equipped scientists. We also are looking to instill confidence and provide many resources for developmental seminars for real world application, not just science based. Thank you again to King T'Challa and Princess Shuri for the amazing opportunity, and I look forward to collaborating together." Shyly, Izebel peered into the crowd waiting for a response.

At first all Izebel could see was the ever present smirk on Tony Stark's face that always appeared in public settings. But then it suddenly dropped, replaced instead with a dark eye roll towards the person in the back standing up. The blonde woman was neatly dressed in a grey pencil skirt and a very tight white blouse. Izebel could practically see the waves of mischief that rolled off her presence.

"Christine Everhart, Vanity Fair Magazine. You stated that you have been working with Princess Shuri for the past couple of months in the Wakandan Science Division. Can you elaborate more on what you have been working on?"

Izebel eyed the recorder lit up in this Christine woman's hand. "Umm yes. Of course. Can I just clarify before how technical you wish this to be? I am not familiar with Vanity Fair. I'm afraid I don't know the audience you write towards," Izebel smiled curtly at the woman. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Tony Stark snickering. Christine Everhart rolled her eyes subitly but answered the question none the less.

"Of course Dr. Anderson. We are a major magazine that deals with areas of popular culture, fashion and current affairs. You would fall under the current affairs."

"Oh, um yes. I'm sorry I wasn't aware of your magazine." Izebel apologized softly. Hastily she took her hands off the tablet and began to wave them in time to her explanation. "Well, my background is obviously medicine but I also earned a Ph.D. in ethnobotany. Primarily my research is dedicated to memory restoration and neurological improvement but through a holistic approach of dietary supplements. Wakanda has a plethora of natural resources which biochemical properties have yet to be completely analyzed for their potentials in medicine and I was brought in by King T'Challa and Princess Shuri to begin work in that field. There has been some success that will hopefully have uses in the fields such as PTSD or even Alzheimer's disease."

"That is very admirable work. I believe your sister also does admirable work? A missionary in the Wakandan area? How perfect." The smile never left Christine Everhart's face. Izebel found her hands clasped together firmly in front of her on the podium.

"Yes. She has been there for several years now. It has been nice to be able to see my sister during this time of transition into a new laboratory space after completing my residency." With pursed lips, Izebel looked towards the audience for any other reporters with questions. No one seemed interested and half were already typing on their phones.

"Well Dr. Anderson, I believe this concludes our press conference. Thank you so much everyone for taking the time today to celebrated the foundation of the Wakandan Outreach Initiative in America. We would also like to take the time to thank Mr. Stark for graciously donating the former Avengers Tower to establish a home base for the program in New York."

At that statement, Tony stood up, threw a peace sign in the air, and left the room. Shuri quickly dragged Izebel off the stage shortly after and the three found themselves in a quiet hallway of the former Avengers Tower.

"Shuri!" Izebel laughed, but returned the hug Shuri had bombarded on her. The two girls excitedly chatter their whole way up to the quinjet on the roof, discussing what Tony brought and what Shuri discovered about the building their acquired from the Avengers.

"It's almost 50 stories of usable classroom space for these kids. Image this could be a resource center and a perfect place for children to come and be safe to play and learn. We can even convert the gym to a children's gym and get them dodgeballs! It is going to be fantastic Izebel I can't wait to work on the schematics when we get home."

Izebel smiled. Home. That was what Wakanda was to her now. Good friends and a purpose to her crazy life and talents.

"Hey Shuri? Can you fit a truck into this quinjet for transportation?" Izebel asked innocently. Shuri turned around in the pilot's chair to look her straight in the eye. A mischievous glint swirled in her brown eyes.

"How big are we talking here?" Shuri asked inquisitively. Izebel just smiled.

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The plane ride from NYC to Arcadia, FL was just under 2 hours in the Wakandan quinjet. Shuri landed in the field behind her parent's farm home, away from all the animals. Immediately the plane was cloaked when they got off, and Izebel ushered Shuri into the barn behind the house.

Inside, Shuri let out a low whistle when she came face to face with the beautiful red 1980's Chevy Silverado. Izebel stood proud in front of her masterpiece, finally feeling comfortable and at peace even in the stupid green dress. Taking off her heels, Izebel climbed up into the driver's seat and shouted to Shuri to get in. The princess herself clambered into the cab and Izebel found the spare set of keys in the glove compartment and turned the engine on.

"It's a diesel engine. That's the amazing sound you are hearing now. But, I was thinking we might be able to work on in when we get back home and put some amazing Wakandan tech into the system and terrorize your brother and Bucky with it." Shuri grinned at plan Izebel was giving to her. "Also, I can show you around my land where I grew up. Hold on tight."

Izebel put the truck into gear and pulled out of the barn with a scream of happiness. The two girls giggled as the truck raced around the small working farm. Izebel's father had put in new plants for her mother, and the goats were all chilling in their pen with the chickens. Izebel finally parked the truck at the edge of the property where there was a small pond.

"If you look at the center of the pond you can see an alligator." Izebel pointed out the small head peeking out from the surface of the water.

"So you are telling me you grew up on a farm?" Shuri giggled after a few moments of silence. Rolling her eyes, Izebel looked at Shuri and raised an eyebrow.

"What? I'm not the southern country bumpkin everyone sees the south as?" Izebel joked playfully. But instead of laughing along with her, Shuri's face fell into thought.

"Your attraction to nature and peacefulness in patient's makes sense in this setting. It's a mindset I was not sure where it was established in your childhood or during your educational training." Shuri explained easily. "My love for Wakanda and my curiosity in the vibranium suit that my brother wears established my love for science. Everything I do is for the purpose of protecting and aiding my people. I believe that it is often these moments that can establish a person for who they will become. It might even be quantified in that algorithm Tony has."

At the thought of Project Insight, Izebel shuttered. Like most people within her generation, these terrorist attacks shaped her childhood. 9/11, the Battle of New York, and the Fall of S.H.I.E.L.D.

"I think you might be onto something Shuri. I really do." Izebel agreed. Shuri smiled, and then jumped up in the bed of the truck.

"Oh my gosh why didn't I _think_ of this sooner! The algorithm for Bucky! We haven't identified those common moral characteristics of him. If Zola was the one to program him, don't you think that's something he would target for these trigger words?" Before Izebel could even respond Shuri was pulling a hologram of the algorithm from her kimoyo beads. Filtering through a couple of the slides, Shuri began to rewrite numerical values in front of Izebel's eyes.

Then it dawned on her. Following Shuri's thought process she pulled up the schematic of Bucky's neural pathways and where the flags had occurred during previous sessions. The red lights were flagged in the left and right lateral orbitofrontal cortex. A smile broke out on Izebel's face.

"No way!" Izebel shrieked. "Look at those areas! Neuroscientists have been identifying those areas as specific regions for morality centers! How the _hell_ did this guy know all of this?" Izebel could feel her stomach drop, leaving a cold dread feeling inside of her chest cavity. Shuri's lips pursed and her fingers went to save and back up the files on her kimoyo beads.

"Zola was an evil genius way ahead of his time, but these types of brainwashing techniques were decades before the current research that supported it. Could it be possible that they were advanced in other areas of scientific research as well?" Izebel's question fell heavy. Both girls now realizing how dangerous this unraveling of Bucky's mind was.

"This might be something my brother would be interested in." Shuri stated sheepishly. Both girls' holograms fell at this statement. Izebel pulled on the bottom of her dress out of habit.

"What was the mission they were going on again?" Izebel asked hesitantly. Shuri thought about this for a second. "I believe it was in regards to tracking HYDRA operatives who have been smuggling vibranium. It's not a lot but enough to be on a radar."

Raising her eyebrow, Izebel asked the first question that came to mind. "Enough to make kimoyo beads that can rewrite neurological pathways?" Shuri's eyebrows went up to her hairline.

"Oh this might be a lot trickier than I thought." Shuri said. The two girls laid back in the bed of the truck.

"I think you might be right there." Izebel stated.


	14. Chapter 14

Authors Note: Hi guys! So sorry for the long delay in the chapters. I hope this one makes up for it. I have a pretty good outline of where this story will end, and hopefully, Endgame will bring some new ideas as to how our heroines will overcome the forces of evil. Also a quick shout out to all the new followers. Thank you for reading and believing in this story. Enjoy!

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The Amazon of South America was both the perfect place to hide a major operation for HYDRA and to catch any form of Ebola that was being carried by the thick swarms of mosquitos that engulfed the lower canopies. Repositioning his facemask to try and cover his face, Bucky turned on his coms as well.

"Okay, before we test if my serum is resistant to Ebola, can anyone give me an update about the truck that just went by? I could only make 3 HYDRA operatives along with a large containment unit in the back."

Okoye was stationed in a tree across the makeshift road from him. Catching her eye, she nodded in confirmation that she agreed with his assessment. Suddenly a flash of black and navy whizzed by below them.

"Eyes up people. I make two more guards around the containment unit in the back." Steve said, not even slightly out of breath.

"The algorithm that Shuri made is not presenting any vibranium within the containment unit. Either the containment unit suppresses any interference with the vibranium, or they do not have the shipment, and this is a decoy." At T'Challa's words, Okoye stood up straighter. Bucky tightened his M249 SAW within his grasp, his metal finger ghosting the safety. Several grunts and crunching sounded through the coms. A gruff "all clear" came from Steve before Okoye and Bucky jumped from their posts and ran to reach the two leaders.

Bodies littered the ground. Bucky quickly checked for pulses and opened their mouths to examine their molar teeth. Wiggling the back teeth gently, none of the teeth gave in.

"No evidence of a cyanide pill in these guys. We can transport them to a local base and hopefully get some intel out of them." Bucky commented. Okoye quickly began to round up the seven men and tied their arms behind their backs.

"I will contact the nearest war dog group in Brazil. We should be able to lock them down there until we can determine the best course of action for the intel recon and the management of these criminals. As much as I appreciate the help, I do not think it would be wise if the Captain and Sergeant Barnes should be present when I call into Tony." Vibranium gave way to the cheeky grin etched onto the king's face.

"Bucky? Are you there? It's Shuri and Izebel. I think we have something that might interest you regarding the vibranium being smuggled." Bucky's eyes rose. It was the first time Izebel had felt the need to use the personal com link that she gave to him before they left for this operation. Making eye contact with Steve quickly, he turned his back to the group before talking switching his side of the communication on.

"Hey Iz, it's me. We are just wrapping up our operation. Is everything alright with you and Shuri?" A knot formed in his stomach as he thought of the possible HYDRA operations that vibranium could be utilized in, and how much danger those two girls could be in if they stumbled upon HYDRA files on the dark web.

"Oh we are fine, I'm just trying to relay a thought we had. Shuri explained to me that it doesn't take a lot of vibranium to create the kimoyto beads and since we are utilizing the vibranium to undo your brainwashing and controlling and we think… well, since HYDRA hasn't seemed to have smuggled too much vibranium… what if this could be used for different medical testing, similar to the… ummm… treatment to you?" There was a pregnant pause as Bucky began to decipher the information just given to him.

While Bucky didn't have any true background in scientific research or medical treatment like Izebel or Shuri, he does remember his time at HYDRA. Besides the painful flashbacks to the chair and its electrical capacity, there was nothing that he could remember about the machine itself that was different than any other metal. The metal in his arm twitched. His memories of those first times in Zola's lab were muffled, between the brain soup from the chair and pneumonia; those days were mostly expunged. Fuzzy memories of Zola first putting on the arm came to the forefront of his mind.

"Shuri, did you ever get the composite count of my initial arm? Any vibranium in the initial composition?" He could feel his voice waiver while asking the question. Steve's torn star appeared in his line of vision.

"Sergeant there was not a lot to work with from the remains of your arm retrieved from the Siberian base. But from the small tests I was able to run, and the reports from your maintenance there were some obvious indications that vibranium was one of the components." Shuri explained lightly.

He could feel his muscles tighten again. Glimpses of recon missions from his HYDRA days floated to the front of his memory again. "I-well-I… I can't remember if I ever specifically was sent out to obtain a vibranium shipment. Isn't this something that would be documented in the Wakandan Government files?"

"Bucky," Izebel voice echoed softly in his ear. Squeezing his eyes shut, he took a deep breath. "Yeah, Iz?"

"Bucky," she whispered again. "We aren't asking if you did it. Because we all know what my response would be. Bucky… we are asking you if you think there is anyone still around at HYDRA who might be trying to obtain small samples of vibranium to perform similar medical…umm… treatments similar to what you had performed on you?"

"Maybe? We have a couple of goonies here with a vibranium shipment. Shuri, you could contact your brother and maybe discuss that with him?" Turning around to face the group. "Iz, I will keep the comlink muted but opened. So, if you need anything else, just let me know."

"Of course Bucky. And the same goes for you." Iz calmly stated. The line went quiet after the promise.

"Okay, so change of plans. Steve and T'Challa, how much of that did you catch?" Bucky looked between the two men. T'Challa's began speaking to Okoye clearly in Xhosa. Okoye began to drag the men into a neat circle and four Dora Mijale appeared and started to clean up.

"Buck, do we need to worrying about reinforcing the palace for the security of Princess Shuri and Dr. Anderson?" Steve asked quickly. Shaking his head, Bucky tussled his long hair quickly.

"They don't seem to be in any distress. Princess Shuri scheduled a last-minute meeting with Tony Stark in NYC, so security wise, they are all set. They are due back in Wakanda on the following day." Okoye snorted behind him. Raising an eyebrow, Steve tightened his thumbs into his belt loops and turned to the general.

"Anything you would like to add Okoye?" Steve questioned. Okoye's face broke out into a grin while she pulled a globe up from her kimoyto beads. Two small dots appeared floating over the middle of the Florida peninsula.

"While I trust the leadership of my country without question, sometimes I question your ability to lead not understanding the specific personality traits of the characters you find yourself working with. Dr. Anderson and Princess Shuri have taken a sudden trip to Arcadia, FL. This is Dr. Anderson's home town. Based on my previous knowledge of those two working together, Princess Shuri and Dr. Anderson are acquiring certain items from Dr. Anderson's childhood home to complete her move to Wakanda as a permanent resident, which makes sense considering the fact she just publicly announced her official role as Science Liaison for the American Division of the Wakandan Outreach Initiative." Closing her fist and the globe simultaneously, Okoye nodded to Steve before walking away with her Dora Mijale following suit.

"Are Dr. Anderson and Princess Shuri secure without the presence of more security in Florida?" Steve directed his question towards T'Challa this time. T'Challa only smiled politely and shrugged before following his general.

"So, I'm guessing we will be able to take a detour to Florida? Any chance you can connect back with Widow and Falcon in Florida?"

* * *

If you had asked thirteen-year-old Izebel what twenty-six-year-old Izebel's life would be like, she would never imagine saying four wanted criminals and one member of the Wakandan government would be at her table. Well, if her sister had something to do with it, maybe there would have been more than one Wakandan present at a dinner table.

Izebel never even remembered bringing home a friend from college or her residency days. The only person her parents ever met from her entire college career was Dr. Strange. And that encounter was strange enough. Her father was over the moon that her daughter had a fantastic mentor, and her mother couldn't stop fawning over Dr. Strange and Dr. Palmer beginning a courtship and flirtations. But to see her mother fawn over two super soldiers was a wholly different and anxiety provoking experience.

"Izebel, you have yet to introduce me to all of your friends here," the charming older Italian woman grinned as she began to set all the food on the long farm table. Uncomfortably, Izebel stood up from the bench and walked over to help bring more food out. Cramped on the other benches were Steve Rodgers, Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, Natasha Romanoff, and Princess Shuri. Well, Sam Wilson never looked uncomfortable. Being the most normal guy in the room after her father, Sam Wilson got the other head seat at the table, grinning widely at her father.

"Sorry, mamma. I just… wasn't expecting all the company. You know Princess Shuri. I introduced you to her earlier. And I'm assuming you know Steve Rodgers. His friend… Bucky… the veteran I have been working with. Sam Wilson is at the other head of the table, and Natasha is sitting next to Shuri." Hastily, Izebel threw down the last bowl of salad before regaining her empty place of the bench in between Natasha and Shuri.

"It is wonderful to have you all here. I'm glad we got word in time. So sorry about the late dinner, but we had to make enough food. Right Izzy?" Her mother pinched her cheek fondly while dancing around the abandoned uniforms on the floor to reach her husband.

"Melina, take a seat hun. We will say grace quickly so our guests can eat." Jack Anderson gruffly said a quick blessing. Instinctively, Izebel tilted her head down and grabbed the two hands on either side of her. Natasha tried to pull her hand away, but Izebel gripped tighter. To be honest, while Izebel was terrified of Natasha's stink eye she could feel on their intertwined hands, nothing scared her more than not following her daddy's orders.

After the final words were uttered from her father's mouth, she quickly released Natasha's hand and mouthed an apology. Izebel smacked Shuri under the table for the giggle that escaped. Looking up, she saw Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes trying to hide their broadening grins. Rolling her eyes, Izebel picked up the first bowl and threw a serving onto her plate.

"So, Ms. Shuri-" "Just Shuri, Daddy. Sorry," Izebel interrupted but then looked quickly back at her plate, ignoring the glare from her mother.

"As I was saying, _Just_ Shuri, Adriana, my daughter, has been living outside of your country for quite some time. It is very beautiful where you live. My wife and I try to visit every year. The plan is to come at Christmas time this year, to see both our little girls working their hardest." Jack smiled proudly at the mention of his daughters. While the man was very gruff looking, he truly loved every little bit of his all-women family he had.

"Your daughter has done many honorable refugees works with us. One of our operative Nakita works well with your daughter. She has been a great resource to our country." Shuri said politely. Hesitantly, she scooped the noodles into her mouth after twirling them several times.

"Adriana is one of my favorite people to go and visit. Okoye, my brother's general, comes with me too. Her village that she has set up is wonderful, and the kid's artwork fills the halls of our palace. Izebel may not mention it, but she brings a new piece every week after visiting her sister. It has been a delightful addition to our usual collections." Shuri added the praise herself. Izebel noticed she was tugging on her kimoyto beads and smirked. Is the princess nervous from her parents? Now that was something to see.

Silence fell over the group for a bit, but the awkward tension tangibly went down after the complements were paid to Adriana. Izebel noticed the more enhanced individuals were already scooping seconds of the fresh polenta and meat sauce her mother had made quickly.

"Mrs. Anderson, this is wonderful. Thank you for the meal honestly. I hope it will be no trouble for you." Steve said after his second plate was cleared. Melina smiled slightly and nodded thanks. However, a dark look came over Jack Anderson's face at the comment.

"You mean your trouble won't come lookin' for us and give us trouble?" Jack scoffed. Izebel gasped loudly, causing a wry grin from Natasha to be thrown at her. The table became uncomfortably quiet before it was broken by a loud laugh from the opposite end of her father.

"You, Mr. Anderson, are the most direct person I have ever met. I appreciate that." Sam raised his water glass to him in salute before taking a swig. "Reminds me of my own father before he passed. Did you know my father was a minister in Harlem? Ended a feud between two rival gangs by stepping in-between their argument on the street. He died for his efforts, but the gangs ended up resolving a lot of their beef." John's brow pinched together at the story, and he mumbled an apology about the loss of a peacemaker. Melina glared at her husband while Steve's mouth tried to formulate a word. _What's going to happen now?_

"I'm so sorry Mr. Anderson. That is not what we meant. And we take very serious precautions when traveling, as you can understand. So no, our trouble shouldn't be looking for you." Steve firmly apologized. But John's raised eyebrows didn't indicate that the apology was going to be accepted.

"I don't care about your frivolous team drama Rogers. I'm concerned about my daughters and their safety being tangled up in your mess. My daughters, bless their hearts, jump into situations too fast for their own good before realizing what actually is at stake. And you are telling me that Izzy and Anna being tangled up in the Wakandan affairs is the safest thing for them to be doing?" Melina shook her head at her husband's antics while Shuri cleared his throat.

"Mr. Anderson, anything that your daughters work on are the same things I work on and my… my sister works on. I would not allow them to be in a situation that is not applicable to their skill set or would introduce any dangers into their lives." The voice of the princess rang through the small dining room. A slight smile came across Melina's face while she turned to look at her husband.

"I told you, Jack, they are good people. Get your stick out of your ass," Melina laughed. Izebel's stomach flipped. Did her parents really do what she think they did?

"Did you really just call Nakita T'Challa's wife? Oh, I can't wait to tell her that one." Izebel whispered to Shuri. Waiving her off, Izebel poked her face around to make eye contact with her mother.

"Did you seriously have to set up a fake argument just to see if you could scare an Avenger mamma?" Izebel scoffed. The matching smiles between her parents caused her to groan in frustration. "I told you not to mess with people I introduce you to. You wonder why I tell you I have no friends."

"What is happening" Izebel her Bucky whisper to Steve, who just shrugged in response.

Shuri laughed in delight at how uncomfortable everyone was getting. Jack just grinned and shoveled another forkful of pasta into his mouth. The table was filled with misfits, but Jack and Maria could not have pictured a perfect assemblage for their unique daughter to fit in. Squeezing his wife's hand quickly, Jack wiped his mouth and began a different conversation.

"I know we discussed this with Shuri when she first arrived, but I'm happy you Wakandans are reaching out to America. While we like to pride ourselves on being a first world country, I can tell you first hand a little perspective from the outside always improves the world." Shuri nodded in gratitude towards Izebel's father.

"Well, I am glad that my brother has realized how much of a positive impact our society might have on the world. Wakanda is a unique nation, and I believe we have much to offer the world." Nodding politely again, Shuri spun her noodles around her fork.

The rest of the dinner ran smoothly. Small conversations sprouted between Maria and the super soldiers over the Italian culture pre and post Mussolini, farm lifestyles between Bucky and Jack, and design between Maria and Shuri. Izebel remained quiet but hopeful about her parent's future role in her life. While she certainly wasn't raised conventionally, seeing her parents happily engaged in conversation with the most important people in her life brought a feeling of gratitude that she had the parents she did.

Dishes piled up as Steve Rodgers, and Bucky Barnes crowded around her childhood home's sink, one washing, and one drying. She smiled lightly, remembering how her mother adamantly insisted on never getting a dishwasher because it was an opportunity to bond with your family. Sam sat comfortably with Natasha at his side, discussing options for travel without raising suspicions from HYDRA and General Ross.

"Mamma, if you could help me with the rest of my packing I would appreciate that." Izebel returned her dishes to Bucky, savoring the last moments of the most unexpected dinner of her life and moved to the old creaky stairs in the middle of the farm house. Opening the door to her childhood room was like a blast from the past. Adriana and she shared this room until she moved to Nigeria. Even then, Izebel couldn't bear to part with the bunk beds and teenage posters from 2006. Old photos of the Jonas Brothers were faded from years of the Florida sun blaring through their window seat. Adrianna's old craft corner was untouched, only the occasional change in fabrics hinted at her mother using the space to make her grandchildren clothes. Izebel's side of the room was filled with a large collection of books, and the closet was completely emptied of clothes. Some boxes remained in the closet of old hammy downs traded around the church.

Izebel and Shuri had already packed the last suitcase filled with her winter clothes from New York, and any saved college papers and books that she might need to complete her office. Maria entered the room with a smile and hugged her daughter quickly.

"I am so proud of you my _piccolo_ ," her mother whispered. Quickly wiping her eyes, Maria removed herself from the hug and zipped up the final suitcase. "Do you really have to take your truck though? I'm sure the Wakandans have something sensible for you to drive."

Izebel laughed wetly, clearing her throat quickly before answering her mother. "Where is the fun in inventing if we can't fix the previous inventions? Shuri was even talking about the potential for flight for that poor old car." Maria rolled her eyes and wiped away the tear that escaped her daughter's eye. "You are supposed to be the older one. I know you don't know what that feels like most days, but you need to not convince this poor girl to do dangerous things."

Izebel threw her arms around her mom in one final hug before grabbing her suitcase. Before the two women could exit the room, Shuri busted in, panting as if she had a fight on the stairs.

"Hey, wheels up in 30 minutes. I had to tackle Barnes out of the way. Said he could help with your suitcase, but I think your father would have had an aneurysm if a boy followed you to your room. My baba was always that way…" Izebel groaned, cutting Shuri's babble midsentence.

"Oh my parents are so embarrassing. They FLEW to New York to meet the boy I had teach me how to drive. I didn't even like him!" She saw the look her mother threw at Shuri and Izebel groaned. "I promise I didn't! I was already freaking out when I had to introduce you, let alone the three of the worlds most wanted fugitives. And they crack jokes. Ugh…" Izebel threw herself down on the comforter from her teenage years. Maria just laughed at her daughter's antics while Shuri looked pleased with the new information about Izebel's childhood years.

The bunch of misfits congregated around the two aircrafts, giving hugs and handshakes to Mr. and Mrs. Anderson before saying separate goodbyes to the fugitives on the run.

"It was lovely meeting you, Natasha. I've always appreciated your work." Izebel said shyly. Bucky watched the interaction between the short redhead and the taller Italian woman in amusement. The slight biting of her lower lip gave away to the trained spies how nervous Izebel was in front of the infamous Black Widow. "Likewise Dr. Anderson. And here is something for you, if you ever need to get in contact with us regarding your new project." A half smile appeared on Natasha's face as she slid an index card into Izebel's pocket. "Come on boys, we got a young girl we need to check in with." Winking at Izebel for a final time, Natasha boarded the stolen Avengers quinjet with Sam following behind her, waving enthusiastically to the others. Steve hugged Bucky and nodded to Shuri and Izebel before boarding as well.

"Well, I think it's also time for us to depart. If we are lucky, we can arrive home in time for a full night's sleep." Shuri smiled at Bucky and Izebel and quickly boarded the jet.

"Oh, um I should warn you there is less cabin space. We kind of used the main cabin to store my truck." Izebel rolled on the balls of her feet, looking at Bucky's bewildered looked sheepishly and boarded the jet herself. Truth be told, there was the old truck, taking up most of the space where a command center would be. The furniture was moved to the side and strapped down, and the car was also fixed in place in case of turbulence.

After the fiasco of her parents being her parents, Izebel decided that the best course of action would be to just ignore that anything ever happened and sit quietly reading a book instead of engaging in any sort of conversation occurring on the Wakandan quinjet Shuri was operating. The book couldn't keep her attention though, so she kept shifting the pages after skimming half the words, keeping appearances to keep the other occupants away.

Instead of reading and dwelling on the embarrassment, Izebel thought about the reason as to why those particular people ended up at her childhood home. It was strange to think about two World War Two vets and the other disgraced Avengers requiring her insight to change the perspective on the operation they were on. Izebel wished she has done more analysis on the components of the horrible chair she disassembled in Siberia. Maybe her hunch would be more than just a hunch. Vibranium has been a known substance for quite some time, obviously known outside of Wakanda since 1941. Could it be possible Hydra knew about it longer than the Americans? It's possible. But the brainwashing techniques used on Bucky were introduced after the war. Did they learn about the vibranium through Captain America and send in operatives to Wakanda to steal some of the natural resources? Biting her lip, Izebel turned the page with a shaking hand before continuing her thought process. Hopefully, Izebel thought, Bucky would have some memories of vibranium.

In her peripheral vision she could see the man in question eying her. Adjusting her collar again to hide the growing blush, Izebel focused her attention on the words lined on the page in front of her. Bucky has been trying to catch her eye during this whole plane ride back, most likely trying to apologize for his attitude before they all had left. Rolling her eyes, Izebel shifted in her seat, bringing the book closer to her face and adjusting her hair to the right side, a curtain of curls blocking her peripheral vision. No Bucky in sight, no problem right?

A loud sigh echoed sounded from her right side, rejecting her brilliant plan of ignoring the man in question. A couple more heavy sighs sounded out before Izebel roughly closed the book, slamming it down on the chair she vacated and moved to the cockpit with Shuri.

"Boys are stupid" Izebel grumbled. A sly smile spread across Shuri's face, but the princess did not contribute to the comment. Grumbling even more, Izebel flipped open her book once again trying to actually understand the words in front of her.

The flight was long, but the Wakandan princess and technically 2 Wakandan citizens, quickly unloaded their haul into the laboratory immediately and living quarters. Izebel could feel the eyes of the super soldier on her, but she ignored it until she was about to enter her room for bedtime.

"Goodnight Bucky," Izebel said lamely. "Thanks for the help today. And sorry about the awkward conversations at my parents' house." Bucky scoffed but replied a quick 'you're welcome' and soft goodnight before hurrying into his own bedroom.

Sighing, Izebel shut her door tightly and flopped on her bed. Maybe she shouldn't get into passionate fights and then leave the continent. Looking at the obnoxious red and gold USB, Izebel scoffed. Some role model she was for normal interactions for genius kids. Well, at least tomorrow would hopefully be another day. A day where she could act like the adult she was.

In his own bedroom, Bucky methodically placed his gear away, storing everything in its proper place and unloading and locking his weapons while leaving a couple of knives situated around his pillows. The room had no life to it besides the personalized weapon's storage Shuri placed when Bucky has stated his interest in practicing with weapons again. The room had a bathroom where he freshened up before crawling into bed. While his body ached from the tensions of the day, Bucky's mind raced to try to connect the memories in his mind much like Izebel's hands often guided him. Recalling the gentle hands combing his hair, he willed his mind to connect the synapses in his neurons. Anything to remember something that could help Izebel, and not be on her shit list anymore.


End file.
